Sun Set
by DeanGirl2Y5
Summary: Part Two of the Sun Rise Trilogy. Life goes on in Amaterasu's history as Aline and the Winchesters reunite to face the mysterious, yet dangerous Water Dragon in a new area of Nippon. Whatever is going on seems to be effecting Aline, making her darker, wilder than before. What exactly is going on in Ryoshima Coast? SERIES UP FOR ADOPTION!
1. The Coast

_**A/N: Sorry this took so long!**_

I didn't want to have long breaks between chapters but there ended up being long breaks between fics. I'm sorry! I just wanted to have more chapters than just the interludes finished and ready to be posted. Now, I have the first three chapters finished, and I'll be working on the rest while I post what I have finished. Even though I have the chapters all named, I'm still debating what episodes to put in. I have a list on a separate document on my computer.

This chapter right here is 4 pages and has 2,152 words! Can't wait for you to see how many words and pages chapter 3 is. It may be my longest chapter yet! Just letting you know, this references something that Sam and Dean talked about in the deleted scene "Matching the Color of God." It's not required to read either of the deleted scenes, but I'd definitely recommend it to read Dean's reaction when it comes to Aline's mark.

Anyway, hope you like it!

* * *

Aline wasn't sure how exactly it happened this time. First she and Dean were sitting in a motel room miles from Sam and Cas. Now, here they were, Dean on her left and Sam back on her right shoulder, standing in front of a raised bridge. Aline could practically feel the tension between the three of them.

Two guards (one heavy, the other skinny) were standing on either side of it. The skinny guard was shooting arrows into the cannon on the opposite side of the canyon. On either side of the bridge (close to the guards) were lit Moegami statues.

On the opposite side of the lifted bridge, beside the cannon, was a large fort. However, it looked like no one was inside, from what Aline could see at least.

She walked over to the skinny guard and poked him.

 _"Hello there!"_ he stated a few minutes after he turned around. _"What's the matter, poochie? Why the sad look? You'll never get anywhere looking like that. It's bad luck! I'm Yoichi, the greatest archer among all the City Guards!"_

 _"Holy smokes! That's some bow ya got there, mister!"_ Sam said.

Yoichi jumped a few feet. _"What's this? You brought a friend along with you, poochie? This is my trusty bow, Goldenfire, the most powerful in all the land! Guarding is rather dull work, so I pass the time practicing archery. I'll show you what I can do. Watch this!"_ At that, he pulled out an arrow, aimed, and fired. The arrow flew and landed right in the cannon.

 _"Wow! Bull's-eye!"_ Sam sounded as amazed as Aline was.

 _"Pretty good, eh? There's not a target Goldenfire and I can't hit! Now, my friends... Why not have a bite to eat and relax a bit?"_ He threw an apple at her, and she easily caught it in her hands as he turned back around.

However, she caught his attention again while eating the apple.

 _"Look! The scared flames of the Phoenix Statues burn once more!"_ Yoichi pointed at the Moegami statue on his left. _"But I don't think you'd know what that meant, poochie. Go talk to that heavy-set partner of mine over there for details. Suffice it to say, the statues' flames should never go out. However, they had been out until recently. Then, on the night when that moon suddenly rose, I heard a roar from Shinshu Field, and the flames suddenly lit up again! Why do they keep going out and back on? Is it some ill omen? At any rate, now I can give the sign by firing a flaming arrow. That's the sign to lower the Big Drawbridge on the far bank. I was guarding this City Checkpoint when suddenly the order was given to close the city. They raised the drawbridge before I even had time to get back in. But I can shoot a flaming arrow to signal them to lower it again, now that the Phoenix Statues' flames are back."_ He trailed off, crossing his arms and looking at the ground. _"Still... I have nothing to look forward to back in the city. I mean, I'm not cut out to be a City Guard. I really want to be an adventurer and do magnificent things!"_

Aline backed away from him, rubbing her forearm, and connected fire to Yoichi's released arrow. The now-lit arrow flew across the canyon and landed in the cannon, causing it to explode.

The explosion not only caused the bridge to come loose and drop down into position, it also caused a chain reaction that brought down the entire fort, leaving no remains.

Yoichi jumped in shock and surprise, his eyes wide as the four of them watched the fireworks.

Aline bit her lip during the whole explosion before lifting her hands up in the air in a sign of innocence. "It wasn't me!" she yelled out. "I didn't do it! Blame Yoichi! God, what god? I'm just a dog! Not a god!"

The outburst caused both Dean and Sam to burst out laughing. The moment made her smile. It was like everything that had happened (Kevin's death, Gadreel's betrayal, and the divide between the three of them) had all been a dream. Like they'd come out of this and find Kevin asleep while hunched over the angel tablet.

The moment her fingers brushed that mark, however, caused that feeling to crash and burn, reminding her that Kevin was never coming back and it was all her fault.

And her smile quickly faded.

The moment the bridge was down and the explosion was over, the archer whirled around, sweat dripping down his forehead. _"What in the world!? This is terrible! Nothing like this has ever happened before! My arrow suddenly burst into flames!"_ He trailed off again before jumping for the second time. _"Oh no! I just remembered I have business to attend to back in the city! Well, seeing how the bridge is back down and all... I better get back to my guarding job in the city. And I'm not just saying that only to disappear on some adventure... Yoichi, the greatest archer, would never dream of such an act! Well, goodbye and good luck!"_ And he ran off, leaving behind a trail of apples.

Both brothers were still chuckling even when Yoichi was out of sight. The laughter eventually died down, and the tension returned.

"Look, about what happened...," Sam began, but Aline cut him off.

"Don't worry about it," she said, looking at him with a stiff smile. "Besides, we got a cursed zone to get rid of." _And monsters to beat,_ she mentally added, images of said-monsters appearing in her head. One in particular made her clench her head in pain, but she was able to recover.

"Everything good?" Dean inquired.

"Yeah." _What was that about?_ she wondered as they crossed the drawbridge. _And why her?_

After lots and lots of praise gaining (from rejuvenating some of the cursed spots), they reached the entrance to the next area.

 _"Hey hey! The big city! You'll probably find the pace of city life pretty shocking, Ammy, considering how you were stuck out in the boonies for 100 years! As for me, I can't wait to check out all the cute babes! Heh heh..."_ Sam chuckled, and she could've sworn she heard him rub his hands together in excitement. The thought that Issun's personality must've been rubbing off on him made her laugh.

However, that laugh died off the moment Ryoshima Coast came into view. Most of the area was a cursed zone.

 _"Hey! What the heck's going on? Orochi's stupid cursed zone spread all the way here? I mean, this is even past the City Checkpoint! And besides, we already did away with that sneaky serpent. I can't believe the cursed zone hasn't gone away here! It must've been one strong curse for this wasteland to survive even after its maker croaked! Still, I wonder..."_

As she practically threw Dean onto her back and ran over to where the guardian sapling was, Aline knew what the cause of the curse was, and her head started to ache even more at the thought of it.

 _Why does this keep happening? Why does the mere_ thought _of her hurt my head?_

Aline was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't notice that both Dean and Sam were staring at her shadow.

* * *

 _ **"You should know something about that mark."**_

 _ **"Wh-what do you mean?"**_

 _ **"That mark comes with a price."**_

 _ **"...What kind of price?"**_

* * *

A half hour after blooming the guardian sapling (and running into two new enemies, the Headless Guardian and the Bell Guardian, and heard about the Water Dragon, making Aline go all misty eyed. Sam and Dean, however, were confused by her reaction), Aline had practically dragged Dean and Sam (even though the younger Winchester was about the same size as a pistachio) all over Ryoshima Coast, from Ankoku Temple to the high platform (she told them it was called the Moon Turret) to Onigiri Sensei's dojo out in the sea (she, of course, spent her hard-earned money on the technique he called Holy Eagle, which was a double jump) before going up onto the stone dock leading to the entrance to Sei-an City. However, a new monster popped up.

"Seriously? More enemies?" Dean asked.

"We're in a new area, Dean," Aline pointed out. She had switched to her anthro form after coming back onto the main land. Her outfit was the same as it usually was, except it had turned a few shades darker. "What did you expect?"

The new demon was holding a dark red oil-paper umbrella with a gray line lining its edge. The umbrella lifted to reveal a bird woman with long loose black hair, wearing a long elaborate robe with the primary shades of crimson, gray and dark blue that trailed behind it and large sleeves to fit with its bird wings for arms. At the collar of the robe was a ring braided from leaves of some kind of plant. On its back were a pair of paper fans, with decorations of flowers on it. Its neck was very long, like that of a crane, and, as it moved, Aline could see a beak peaking out from behind its hair. A red hat was on top of its head.

"Ubume," she whispered as she slipped into a fighting stance.

The fight lasted for ten minutes, with Aline dodging dive bombs and using Galestorm to render it vulnerable to Tsumugari and power slashes. Two more appeared after she beat the first one, and Aline beat them just as easily as the first, jumping up into the air and stabbing the last Ubume before it disappeared.

She felt both of the brothers' eyes on her as she stood up, pulling Tsumugari out of the ground and placing it back on her back.

"What did you say that was?" Sam asked. He was standing on her shoulder.

"An Ubume. I thought you'd know that, all things considered."

He let out an uneasy chuckle. "Usually, yeah. Like the imps and Orochi. This time...it feels like something's blocking me from knowing things."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means," Dean interrupted, making Aline turn toward him, "that we don't know what's going on."

"You mean, you guys don't know about what's going on with the Water Dragon? Or what's going on here period?"

"Pretty much," Sam answered. "Like I knew the story of Nagi, Shiranui, and Orochi, I knew that Amaterasu is Shiranui's reincarnation. Weeks ago, I could remember the bosses, but I couldn't say their names. Now? I don't remember their names or what they look like."

"Same here," Dean added. "Some prophet I am, huh?" It was a clear rib at himself, but none of them laughed.

"That...doesn't make any sense," Aline said as she began pacing. "I mean...Sam, you watched me play the game. But it makes sense that you don't know the names of each and every monster. I only know them because I looked them up just to learn their weaknesses and Floral Finishers. You have no excuse to not know the bosses. They have a speech bubble that tells you their names. Dean, you have every excuse in the book because you only watched me play when you weren't going to the bar or hooking up with some random girl. Wait...scratch that. You're Waka in my version of Mom's story. So you'd at least know the bosses..." And she trailed off, stopping in her tracks and looked at her forearm.

 _ **"That mark comes with a price."**_

Was this the price?

Aline clutched her forearm and tried to think of _her._ Her head began to ache, but she tried to ignore it, instead focusing on her face, and that headache began to fade as she pictured her. Aline knew her name, who she was, and she looked back toward the temple, specifically the cemetery. She looked back at the brothers (Sam had moved over to Dean's shoulder while Aline had paced) and began pulling them through the wooden gate and down the hill to the capital city.

"Do you know what's gonna happen, Lin?" Sam asked, making Aline freeze in her tracks.

She'd half-hoped dragging them to where they needed to go would close the book on that topic. She guessed she was wrong to hope. "Yeah," she replied without looking at the younger Winchester. "Want me to tell you guys?"

"Nope," Dean answered before Sam could. "No spoilers, remember?"

Aline chuckled. "Okay. Whatever you guys want."

Right before Aline could pick up her foot to keep going, the world around her began to morph back to her's and Dean's motel room.

* * *

 _"A bird possessed by the soul of a woman slain by a samurai's blade. It has no trouble deflecting and sword attacks with its umbrella. Then, it wastes no time using its dark essense to launch a counter. A great monk advises that this pattern can be taken advantage of. When the umbrella comes up to block, blow it back with wind. The creature will recall its life as a woman and cease attacking."_ \- Ubume's beastiary entry


	2. First Born

**_A/N:_** 9 pages. 4063 words. **  
**

The whole fic itself is (as of 5/22/18) is 32 pages. The next chapter is gonna be longer than this one is.

And I realized I forgot to do this last chapter, so here it is.

 _ **DISCLAIMER:**_ I do not own _Supernatural, Okami,_ or any of the characters mentioned in this fic. I only own Aline Peverell, her backstory, and the fic itself. _Supernatural_ and it's characters are owned by the CW & Eric Kripke. _Okami_ and it's characters are owned by Capcom & Platinum Games/Clover Studio. I just play in the fandom sandbox.

 _ **CONTAINED IN THIS CHAPTER:**_ 9x11 "First Born" spoilers, SPN season 9 angst

* * *

Aline and Dean were sitting at a table in the bar. It had been three weeks since they left Sam behind at that dock.

And three days since they saw Ryoshima Coast.

Tsumugari, which had shrunk to the size of the demon blade, was in Aline's jacket (it worked just as well as the demon blade. Multiple demon hunts proved it). The Devout Beads were around her waist like a belt. Both Snarling Beast and Infinity Judge rested in that watch she found Divine Retribution in. The Life Beads, however, were around her neck like a necklace.

Aline was just doodling random brush techniques on the counter with her finger (no harm as long as she doesn't use the brush), her other hand holding a glass of Shirley Temple. Dean was sitting beside her with a beer.

"You could tell me, you know," Dean stated.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Aline lied. She knew _exactly_ what he was talking about, but she didn't wanna explain what it was.

"That's a load of crap and you know it. I just wanna know what that... _thing_...is. Because, when Sam and I told you we didn't know what's gonna happen, you looked at it. I just wanna see it."

She turned to look at him. "Why? So you could show it to Sam? It's not your problem, so forget about it."

"It _is_ my problem, okay? It's just..." Dean trailed off, running his hand through his hair. "I'm not good at explaining this."

"No shit, Sherlock."

Dean looked around and lowered his voice to a whisper. "I'm just worried about you, okay?"

Aline gave him a small smile. "Don't worry 'bout me, Dean. I'll be fine after we find Gadreel."

The older Winchester looked like he was about to open his mouth to say something but a pretty waitress hustled by. He smiled sexily after her (Aline could tell it was forced, but she didn't point that out. However, Dean firmly gripping her leg told her that their conversation was _not_ over, just put on hold).

That was when Crowley showed up.

"So... is that boudoir smile for me?" he asked.

Both hunters startled and drew their weapons, the demon blade for Dean and Tsumugari for Aline.

"At least buy me a drink first."

"I said the next time we see you—" Dean started.

"Dead. Yes, rings a bell, but let's not dwell on the past, shall we? This bar is a bust. That waitress is trouble with a capital VD, and your prey, Gadreel, has left the building. So, it's time to move on to more pressing matters, like destroying Abaddon."

"Good luck with that," Aline said with a scoff (The name of the red haired demon almost made Aline growl, but she held it back with a scoff). "The Knights of Hell aren't exactly the dying kind."

"But there is _something_ that can kill a knight. The weapon that the archangels used to execute them—The First Blade."

"Never heard of it. Can we kill you know?"

"I've been chasing that blade for decades. The closest I got to it was when one of my droogs—Smitty—got wind of a protégé demon of Abaddon's who claimed knowledge of the blade. Sadly, before Smitty could nab the guy, a hunter by the name of John Winchester nabbed the protégé. I'm here to see if there's anything in the John Winchester memorial library that might lead us to the first blade—to killing Abaddon."

It was as if he _knew_ how Aline wanted to react to hearing Abaddon's name, but she and Dean shared a look before looking back at Crowley.

"You want to hunt?" Dean asked. "With us?"

"I do love a good buddy comedy."

Both Dean and Aline rolled their eyes, and Dean reluctantly took his dad's journal out of his jacket and laid it on the table. While he rummaged through the pages, Crowley looked over at Aline, eyes moving up and down her body before focusing on her forearm where the mark rested. He moved to put his finger on it. Aline growled and Power Slashed Crowley's finger, her ears lowering in anger. However, he moved his finger away, smirking.

 _He knew._

(Dean was watching this exchange out of the corner of his eye as he searched through the journal. He saw Aline's eyes flash red the moment Crowley touched her forearm, those shadowy tails appearing behind her not too long after.)

"Oh, yeah," Dean said, catching both Aline's and Crowley's attention. "Here it is. Yeah, he picked up a protégé who had bones with Abaddon, but that's about all it says in here."

Crowley tapped the pages. "What do those numbers in the margins mean?"

Aline ripped his hand away. "None of your business," she growled, ears still tilted.

"What? You guys gonna play hard to get? We have time for a montage?" He was acting like his and Aline's little exchange never happened, but there was a look in his eye that told her that he _knew._

"It's a code—one of my dad's storage lockers," Dean interrupted. "He may have put something about the case there." Under the table, he held onto her other hand, rubbing her hand with his thumb.

The soothing action calmed her down, but she still glared harshly at the king of Hell.

"And what does the 'T' next to the numbers mean?"

"Not a clue."

Crowley stood up. "Fine. Let's go find daddy's man cave, then, shall we?"

"And how do we know this isn't a trap?" Aline asked as she and Dean stood up, her earlier anger ebbed somewhat.

"You...don't. That's what makes it fun." Crowley shot them a wily grin and headed out the door. Aline and Dean slowly followed.

* * *

A demon, a hunter, and a demigod walk into a storage locker.

It sounded like the beginning of an extremely bad joke, but that was the only thing Aline could think of as she, Dean, and Crowley walked into John Winchester's storage locker. Crowley, of course, had a hood over his head. Aline had been the one to put it on after they left the bar, the action feeling somewhat therapeutic.

Dean had taken her here a grand total of four times, including now.

Once they were fully inside, Dean removed the hood.

"Is all this really necessary?" Crowley griped. "I mean, I've been inside your brother and best friend. We're practically family."

Both Dean's and Aline's eyes flashed with rage, and Aline grabbed Crowley, swinging him into a shelf. In the same motion, she pulled out Tsumugari and held it to his throat. Dean stood behind her.

"Listen to me," Dean growled. "We are the furthest thing from family. You got that, dickbag?"

"Oh, yeah."

Dean tapped her shoulder and she let Crowley go. "Now," Aline said, "you wanna hunt? Let's hunt."

Dean opened a small gate and walked through, Aline following behind. She heard Crowley following behind her but he stopped and said, "I'll be right here."

Aline rolled her eyes and helped Dean rummage through case folders.

"So, what do you call this décor, anyway? Rustic obsessive? Paranoid deco?"

Once again, Aline rolled her eyes before finding the file they were looking for. "Here we go," she said, pulling it out and began to read. "Looks like your dad was working with another hunter when he nabbed Abaddon's pet." She held up a picture of a woman for both men to see.

"I guess the 'T' didn't stand for terrible father," Crowley stated as Dean took the photo out of Aline's hand and flipped it over. "It stood for—"

"Tara. Doesn't ring a bell," Dean said.

Aline continued reading the file. "All right, looks like they interrogated the demon. Then they exorcised him. But not before he mentioned the First Blade."

"I love it when I'm right," Crowley said smugly, making Aline want to desperately smack him in the face.

"Yeah, well, the rest of the file's empty, genius."

"What? Didn't they teach note-taking at Hungers Hogwarts?"

That statement earned a double death-glare.

"Let's go see if Tara's still kicking," Dean said.

* * *

Apparently, Tara was, in fact, still kicking. If the sign on the pawn shop was anything to go by.

Then again, Aline and Dean had gone to a few different places named after people only to find out that said-person died months to years ago.

Once Dean opened the door, Aline saw a fit woman in her fifties leaning on the counter reading a comic book, and she looked up at the trio.

"Tara?" Dean asked.

"That's what the sign says," the woman, Tara, answered as she closed the comic. "Can I help you?"

"Yeah. Hope so. John Winchester ring any bells? I'm his son."

"You Sam and Dean?" She looked between Dean and Aline, making Aline chuckle.

"I ain't Sam. Though he does need a haircut," Aline said. "But he's Dean."

Suddenly, Tara winced and grabbed her right knee as her eyes moved to Dean. "Well, didn't you grow up pretty. Still in the family business?"

"Yeah, born and raised. Listen, a bunch of years back, you worked a job with my dad. Well, me, my friend, and my, uh, associate h—"

Without a word of warning, Tara raised a shotgun and aimed it at Dean, Aline, and Crowley. "Ever since '92, I get a painful little tickle in what's left of my knee whenever a demon is around. So, which of you is it?"

"Hunters," Crowley said. "So trusting. I'll go grab a latte while you get this sorted." He snapped his fingers to disappear, but nothing happened.

"Devil's trap under the knock-off Persian, jackass," Tara said with a glare.

Aline moved the rug with her hightop to reveal a red Devil's trap.

"Tara listen," Dean continued, "my friend," he pointed at Aline, "and my, uh, associate—"

"Friends—besties, actually," Crowley interrupted, making Aline glare at him.

"Not helping," she growled.

"Not caring," Tara said.

"Look, I'm the King of Hell. He's a Winchester. She's a child of Amaterasu _and_ a hunter. There's a rea—"

Tara's gun moved to Aline. "Amaterasu, huh? I've run into a few of your siblings. I almost didn't realize you were one."

"What do you mean? I _am_ a child of Amaterasu." She could tell the woman that she was going through her mom's story right now, but she had a feeling that it was a rite of passage of some kind. Probably a secret one only a select few could know about (those select few being the ones who portrayed the different people in her mom's life).

"Prove it then." She reached for something Aline couldn't see, which just so happened to be a dead tree. "Make this tree bloom."

Aline looked at the tree and drew a bloom circle on it. The tree immediately burst into blossoms, and she crossed her arms over her chest with a smug smirk.

Apparently believing her, Tara then splashed the holy water in Dean's face (probably thinking that he was possessed since both he and Aline were working with Crowley). Dean, however, looked very annoyed.

"See? I'm good. Both Aline and I are good. Okay? Yes, you're right. He is a jackass, but he's helping us on this."

"Helping you with what?"

"You and John found a demon who knew something about the First Blade," Aline pointed out, her smirk immediately disappearing. "We need to find that blade."

"Well, hell. Dean, you are as handsome as John. And as dumb, too, if you're looking for that old relic."

"We're hunting a Knight of Hell."

"Why? They're all dead."

"One came back," Dean stated. "Abaddon."

Tara laid a file on the counter. "The demon said the archangels used a weapon that could kill the Knights of Hell. We'd never heard of anything like the Knights of Hell or a First Blade. Your dad thought he was lying, trying to save himself. We took him out, and we had a lovely weekend together. Then we went our separate ways. But I could never let the blade go. Something like that could really give a hunter an edge, you know? Like all of Amaterasu's weapons."

Aline nodded. Apparently, Tara had done her homework on Aline's mother if she knew about the reflectors, rosaries, and glaives. She probably didn't know the names and the best ways to use them, but at least she knew they existed.

"I looked all over the world—destroyed my knee and my life. And all I found?" The older woman turned around, unlocked the safe on the wall, and took out a tray full of spell ingredients. "A location spell for the blade that I could never finish. Couldn't find one ingredient—essence of Kraken."

"Kraken?" Crowley asked, causing Tara, Dean, and Aline to look his way. "I got a warehouse full of Kraken essence in Belize. Break the trap, I can be there and back before you say, 'presto'."

"Presto." Tara's voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"I can help. Dean? Aline?"

"He wants Abaddon as dead as much as I do," Aline said.

"As _we_ do," Dean corrected.

"If your daddy could see you now, Dean. Same goes for your mother, Aline," Tara pointed out as she walked around the counter and pushed back the rug with her foot. She took out her shotgun and shot the Devil's Trap, breaking the outer ring before Crowley disappeared. "You know, even if that blade is real, it ain't worth being bosom buddies with the King of Hell."

"Abaddon? Way worse," Dean told her. "We'll deal with Crowley after. Trust me."

"You sound just like your dad...when he said he'd call me. And you," she added, looking at Aline. "We both know you know this is a bad idea."

Aline didn't even look at her. "Yeah, I get it. Children of the sun shouldn't work with demons. It's just...this is just my way of trying to make up for something."

"Your mom might be disappointed in you."

 _What's to say she isn't already?_ Aline almost said, but she didn't.

Dean and Aline shared a look as if Dean could tell what she almost said. Crowley reappeared, holding a small jar in his hand.

"Shall we?" he asked.

* * *

Turned out, the spell led them to Missouri, northeast of Springfield.

It also turned out to be the home of the father of murder himself, Cain.

Cain, as in Cain and Abel.

It was surprising that the man who committed the first murder was now a beekeeper, but Aline didn't judge.

Dean, Aline, and Crowley were sitting inside Cain's house on a couch. Both hunters were looking around assessing their options, and Crowley was staring at the floor looking like he was about to panic.

"Why don't you just zap out of here?" Aline asked.

"I'd never leave my domestic partners in crime," Crowley replied.

"Yeah, like your heart grew three sizes," Dean said with a snort. "You can't zap out of here, can you?"

"Cain's doing something to me."

"Well, it's not your day for getaways, is it?" Aline snarked. "All right, so, tell us about this Cain."

"Well, after Cain killed Abel, he became a demon."

As if that day couldn't be more surprising.

"What do you mean 'became a demon'?" Dean asked.

"I mean he became the deadliest demon to walk the face of the earth. Killed thousands. The best at being the worst. And then he just...Disappeared. Everyone thought he was dead or, at least, hoped he was."

Cain entered with a tea tray, and Crowley cowered, making Aline smirk at Dean.

"Do any of you keep bees?" Cain inquired (the first sentence he spoke since the trio entered his house. Besides, of course, telling Crowley that he wasn't going anywhere). "It's very relaxing. They're such noble creatures. And the honey? Well, I keep it right on the comb." He set the tray down on the coffee table and handed Crowley a cup. Crowley took it, but his hands were shaking in fright and so the teacup rattled suspiciously. "There you are." Cain handed both Dean & Aline cups of tea as well. "They're dying, you know. Without bees, mankind will cease to exist. So, what are the King of Hell, a Winchester, and a child of Amaterasu doing at my house?"

"You know who we are?" Aline asked.

"I'm retired. I'm not dead. What I don't know is why you're looking for me—more importantly, _how_ you found me."

"Ah, that's, uh, a funny story really," Crowley replied nervously. "Bit of a misunderstanding. We really should—"

Cain motioned with his hand, and Crowley was rendered speechless. "Shh."

The former crossroads king stammered and tried to make a sound. Both Dean's and Aline's jaws dropped in amazement.

"Oh, you gotta teach us how to do that," Dean stated.

"Why are you here, Dean, Aline?"

Aline took a minute to compose herself (because _that was so frickin' cool!_ ) before answering with, "We're looking for the weapon the archangels used to kill the Knights of Hell. The First Blade. We need to kill a Knight of Hell—Abaddon." She subtly noticed Cain absentmindedly moved a ring on his left ring-finger. "Look, I get it. _We_ get it. You're retired. We're not here to get between you and the demonic AARP, but it's bad out there, and we, Dean and I, are just looking to even the odds."

"One last time—how did you find me?"

"We didn't." Dean this time. "The location spell was for the blade. One-time deal."

"Anyone else know you're here?"

"No," Dean and Aline said simultaneously.

However, Cain stood from the chair. "Well, it's been a pleasure having company, but once a century is enough for me. You can let yourselves out."

Both hunters followed after him.

"Hey, listen, pal," Dean stated. "We're not leaving here without the Blade."

"You have quite a reputation, Dean. Same with you, Aline. I see the part about the two of you being brave rings true."

"Well, what can I say? The two of us are all-in kinds of people."

"Besides," Aline added, "Abaddon is the last Knight of Hell, and if you're out of the game, what the hell do you care if she dies?"

"If your friend here could talk, he would tell you that I trained the Knights of Hell. I built that entire demonic order with my own hands—Abaddon included."

Dean and Aline turned indignantly on Crowley.

"Well, that's information we could have used five minutes ago!" Aline said with a glower.

Crowley gasped in explanation, still unable to talk.

"Well, here's something your friend doesn't know, that no one knows, in fact—outside of Abaddon. Your mother doesn't even know, Aline. It wasn't the archangels that slaughtered the knights. It was me."

The two hunters shared a look before looking back to Cain.

"Why did you turn on your own?"

"Once again, I admire your bravery. But if you'll excuse me, I have errands to run in town." He turned his back to leave. "Goodbye, Dean Winchester, Aline Peverell...Never return."

And Crowley, Dean, and Aline exited the house.

"Well," Crowley said, now able to talk again, "that was lovely. Can we leave the country now?"

Aline whirled on him. "But you said the First Blade was our only shot at killing Abaddon. This is the closest you've been to it. We're _not_ leaving."

"Will you listen to reason for once, you dumb wolf?"

Aline growled and went to do something to hurt Crowley (something, _anything._ Just to get the anger out), but Dean held her back.

"Hey. He said he was going into town," Dean pointed out. "Awesome. We wait till he's gone, come back, bust in, take what's ours. Got it?"

* * *

Suffice to say, the plan didn't work because (surprise surprise) the Blade was gone. It actually led them to the source of the Blade's power: Cain.

That was when Dean and Aline found out about (and saw) the mark Cain received from Lucifer himself. The mark and the blade worked together. Without the mark, the blade itself was useless.

Another thing was a demon (apparently working for Abaddon) had been tailing the three of them since the bar, and he brought a whole bunch of other demons with him to Cain's house.

Of course, Aline and Dean made quick work of a few of them.

As a result, Cain gave Dean the mark.

However, the one thing that Cain said caught Aline's attention and made her blood run cold.

 _"The mark comes with a great burden. Some would call it a great cost."_

Yet, Dean took it without a moment's hesitation. After making Dean promise to use the Blade on Cain when he called him, Cain grasped Dean and Crowley's shoulders (Aline grabbed Dean's hand) and flashed them outside of the house. The other demons that were left rushed into the house and a red-hot light lit up the windows from inside.

 _("They're all trapped in there," Crowley stated._

 _"With_ him," _Dean added.)_

Now, the two hunters and the demon were sitting in the parked Impala. As usual, Dean was sitting in the driver's seat. Aline was in the passenger's seat, and Crowley was in the back.

"He was right, you know," Crowley pointed out. "You are worthy."

"Oh, great. Now you're gonna get all touchy-feely, too?" Dean asked.

"Your problem, mate, is that nobody hates you more than you do. Believe me, I've tried." He looked over at Aline. "Same with you, but I know you have...something else."

Sensing the tense atmosphere, Aline asked, "So, how do we find this Blade?"

Crowley got out of the car. "You two can't search the bottom of the ocean, but I can. So, I'll find it and bring it to its new owner."

Before he could zap away, Dean and Aline got out as well.

"I saw you, Crowley. Back at Cain's," Dean pointed out. "You dusted that undercard demon, and then you just sat back and watched the main event. You knew. You knew about the mark. You knew about Abaddon and Cain. You knew all of it. And you played us. Why?"

"He would never have given me the Blade. Who can say no to you? I needed you to play along."

"You knew we were being followed," Aline growled, "and you didn't say a damn thing."

"Well, Cain would want to see his prizefighter up close. You plus demons equals fight night."

Aline shoved him against Baby, Tsumagari pressing against his throat. "Tara died. Thanks to you."

"Omelets. Broken eggs. Et cetera."

Dean put his hand on Aline's shoulder, and she let him go. However, the moment she did, Dean angrily punched Crowley.

"After I kill Abaddon...you're next!" he growled out.

"You don't mean that. The three of us're having too much fun."

The two hunters started to walk away, but Crowley called after them.

"Listen up. Even with the Blade, we're gonna need all the help we can get against Abaddon."

At the same time, they turned around, annoyed looks on their faces.

"Go find the Blade." It was like they were one person at that point, strangely enough, but Crowley rolled his eyes.

"It's always something with you three, isn't it?" Then he disappeared.

Dean hissed in pain and pulled up his right sleeve, where the raised f-shaped mark rested. Aline immediately grabbed him, her teeth gritted in pain. It felt like her own mark was burning her skin, and, once she knew he was alright, pulled up her right sleeve.

"I guess that makes us twins, huh?" Dean asked, making her look up. His eyes were locked on her mark.

"Yeah," she whispered. "It does."

* * *

 _ **FUN FACT:**_ I almost thought about giving Aline the MOC, but she already has enough on her plate to deal with.

So, yeah. Crowley knows about Aline's mark. He also knows something else that neither she nor Dean knows, but the two of them are gonna find that out eventually. Maybe the next chapter? Maybe a bunch of chapters from now? Who knows? (of course, _I_ know.)

 **Next time on "Sun** **Set": **" _Holy cow, this sister's stacked!"_


	3. Sickness & Melons

**A/N:** Welcome to the beefer chapter!

11 pages. 6,181 words. Jeebs, I know I wanted to make up for my lack of not posting anything, but _man._ This isn't the longest fic I've written (it doesn't even come _close_ to my other beefer chapter), but _man._

Anyway, I just wanna give a quick heads-up: Chapter Four of this fic is gonna take longer than expected. I don't know if I mentioned this before or not, but, when it comes to multi-chaptered fics like this, I have all of them on one document and then copy-paste them onto a new one and save it. I use OpenOffice as my default word processor, and it has a tendency to (close to 90% of the time) replace all the words I've already typed to hashtags.

This fic was no exception to that. I had some of chapter four typed out (which is "Sharp Teeth," by the way). I was working on it some last night and was planning to continue this morning (the day this chapter is being posted, 5/23/18). So, after turning on my computer, I opened OpenOffice and a text box I'm all-too-familiar with popped up. After hitting "Okay," it opened up and all 32 pages of "Sun Set" were replaced by 12 pages of hashtags. I posted a picture of this on my writing Tumblr, oldfashioncdvillain, a little bit ago if you wanna check it out.

It also happened with _i am the mastermind (underline mastermind)_ 's Hope Arc fic, which is why that hasn't been posted yet, either. I actually got scared since it happened to "Sun Set" that I had to check another SPN crossover I've been working on. Fortunately, it hasn't happened yet. That one in particular is 45 pages long, and I'm only on chapter three (that's the fic that has the beefer chapter that's longer than this one). I'll be posting that one eventually.

Anyway, hope you like this chapter! And I'm sorry about the wait. And the fact that I'm gonna be making you wait even longer for chapter four! *puffy face*

* * *

Two days after Dean got the mark from Cain, Aline found herself, along with both Winchesters, right outside the gate to Sei-An City. It didn't seem like there was much of a trigger to cause these trips anymore.

Maybe that would change the further she went.

That left her mind the moment the three of them entered the commoner's quarters of Sei-An City. The whole area was veiled under a deep, hazy, green mist. All the cherry blossom trees were not bloomed, and Aline didn't bother blooming them. The waterways that ran through the quarter was all dried up.

 _"Huh? What the...!?"_ Sam said, clearly shocked. _"I thought the big city would be a happenin' place. What's up with this funky looking mist!? It looks downright hazardous to your health! I wonder if people can actually live normal lives in this nasty stuff."_

"This stuff really does look nasty," Dean pointed out. "Can you bloom the trees?"

"No point. They'll just go back to being dead," Aline answered, and she began walking, Dean following behind her. She walked over to the tool dealer.

 _"Oh, this is terrible,"_ he complained. _"The Water Dragon is causing so much trouble out in the sea. It's gotten to the point where I can't produce any goods to sell. There used to be tons of fish both in Ryoshima and here in the city. But the Water Dragon's antics have scared them all away. The price of fresh fish has gone through the roof. What is it, pooch? Been sent to do the shopping, have you? I don't have much for sale, but feel free to take a look."_

She sold all the treasure she'd found before buying the Blinding Snow fishing rod, earning questioning looks from both brothers.

"Why are you buying that?" Sam inquired.

She grinned. "You'll find out," she replied. "I thought you guys said you didn't want any spoilers." Grabbing Dean's hand, she ran past a city dweller trying to pull himself up off the ground with the wall, over a bridge, and stopped in front of a kneeling samurai. He was wearing a yellow kimono and purple hakama. A katana with a light gray handle was on his side in a lacquered black wood sheath. His face was quite large, his mustache was thin, and he also had a small beard. His hair was tied up into a ponytail, with the hair on his temples pointing horizontally. A flag was on his back.

 _"I was traveling the country to perfect my martial arts,"_ the samurai said with a growl. _"But when I arrived here in Sei-An, I suddenly started to feel ill. I'd heard rumors before that Queen Himiko's holy power was incredible. Surely this can't be her doing! This mist across the city is suspicious, too... But I won't let it get the better of me. Nothing gets the better of me!"_

She continued on past the guards, noticing Dean had a thoughtful look on his face. Sam stopped her, though.

 _"The city's bigwigs live across the bridge ahead. That area's crammed full of awesome palaces. One of 'em belongs to Queen Himiko, ruler of Nippon. You can tell because it's really huge. I've no idea what she's like, but I'm not sure I'll like her. I mean, she doesn't seem to be doing anything about this mist. Plus, I make it a point to never trust queens and the like anyway."_

Aline smiled and laughed to herself as she walked through the door leading to the bridge between the commoner's and aristocratic quarters. But...

"It looks even worse over here," Sam pointed out. "And the bridge is up!"

The bridge, the Gojo Bridge, was indeed up. And the source of the waterways, Lake Beewa, was all dried up. Off in the distance, the mist seemed to be swirling up from across the bridge.

"That's where it's coming from," Dean said.

It wasn't a question, but Aline nodded none the less, confirming Dean's suspicions.

 _That's where it is,_ she thought, the image of the one causing the mist popping up in her mind. She changed into her wolf form, pulling Dean onto her back as she did so, and ran down the bridge, stopping where it was split in half.

Standing at the edge of the commoner's side of the bridge, staring at Lake Beewa, was a man wearing a white hood with many weapons on his back. White bandages were on his arms and ankles, and he wore a blue jacket with gold circles. His lower body was covered by a cloth held up by a yellow rope, and sandals were on his feet.

 _"Hrmmm... Where did all the water go?"_ Aline heard the man grumble (and grumble some more) when the trio got close to him. He turned around, jumping when he saw Aline. _"Oh, hello, pooch. Thinking about crossing Gojo Bridge? Well, think again! This bridge is a very special contraption! With one command, I can make it passable, and another, impassable. But there's a reason why I cannot operate it right now."_

"Why not?" Sam questioned.

Aline poked the man with her paw, causing him to get angry.

 _"Stop pestering me. I cannot make the bridge passable right now! At least not until the lake's water is restored and I get that elusive item..."_

"Who does this guy think he is?" Dean asked, glaring at him.

 **"That's Benkei,"** Aline answered, turning around and running back to the commoner's quarters. **"He's a traveling Buddhist monk."**

"And that item he's looking for?"

The brunette grinned, now running past the samurai and jumping into the dried up waterways. Left, right, opening chests along the way to her destination. **"Spoilers. I just wanted to talk to him so that way you wouldn't get confused when I head to where we needed to go in the first place."**

"Well, I don't know about Dean, but I'm already confused," Sam said. Right now, he was sitting on top of her head in between her ears, holding onto her fur as she ran.

 **"It'll make sense, trust me. And we're here anyway."**

With one last jump, she landed on a wooden platform above the dried-up canal where an elderly man with a white beard stood. He was wearing a hat that appeared to be a model of one of the many large buildings in the city. A wooden hammer was on his back. The man looked disgruntled, angry even.

 _"Curse that confounded Water Dragon, causing such a commotion!"_ he grumbled. _"How can the god of the sea be ruining the peace like this? I bet the dragon is to blame for the state of this canal, too. All that fuss has caused the lake to plug itself up!"_

Dean leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Who's this old timer?"

 **"That's Naguri. He's a master carpenter,"** Aline responded.

Sam had stood up the moment Aline stopped in front of Naguri, bouncing as he said, _"Hey, Ammy, looks like there's trouble over here, too. Seems the whole city's a complete mess."_

Naguri looked up, shocked to see a wolf standing in front of him. _"Oh, did you come here for a drink of water, wolf? I'm afraid it's completely dried up. This canal was a really important source of water for us. That's why I'm digging a whole to see if I can tap into it again. So many people are sick now that there's hardly anyone to help out. In fact, I'm the only one left. One lowly carpenter. But I'm determined not to give up. You get quite fit doing my job. Now I can reap the benefits. I built almost everything you see here in Sei-An, you know. So there's nothing I don't know about the place. Wanna know where the key to this water source lies? It lies in Lake Beewa's drain plug!"_

Aline barked to catch the carpenter's attention again after he looked away from her.

 _"You seem to listen well for a pooch. Maybe I should tell you about Lake Beewa's plug then. Sei-An City is floating in the middle of Lake Beewa. The water from it is what fills the canal around the city. But the Water Dragon's antics have made the plug seal up. No wonder the canal is dried up. And that's why we're in this sorry state now. I'm pretty sure the plug is located beneath this area. If I can dig my way to it, the water should come gushing out! It's pretty exciting, don't you think? If you think so, then maybe you could help me out!"_

Aline said **"Yes"** without a moment of hesitation.

 _"It's a shame wolves can only answer with their eyes. Still, it doesn't matter what you are if you're willing to help. Now listen carefully while I explain what you have to do. Like I told you, Lake Beewa's plug is right below us here. I'll concentrate all of my efforts on finding it. All you need to do is use those claws and get digging! I'll use the hole you dig to get the plug, and when I reach it, I'll give it a good whack and open it up! If no water comes out, you might need to give me a hand. So, do you understand what you have to do?"_

Once again, Aline said, **"Yes."**

 _"That looks like a yes to me. It's time for wolf and human to pool their energy together! Let's get going!"_

* * *

Minutes later, the canal was unclogged and Aline and Sam were back at Gojo Bridge (Sam and Dean had stayed on the dock while Aline and Naguri searched for the plug AKA digging minigame number two of three).

"Maybe hoodhead will let us through this time," Sam stated. Dean had disappeared while Aline was searching for Lake Beewa's plug with Naguri. (According to Sam, he just poofed away, freaking him out.) The younger Winchester was currently sitting on her shoulder.

Aline rolled her eyes and chuckled a little as they neared the wandering Buddhist monk. She'd switched back to her anthro form the moment she set foot on the bridge.

"So, what have I been missing on the adventures of Dean and Aline?"

She froze, but she recovered quickly. Both she and Dean swore to each other that they wouldn't let Sam know what happened, about the mark. Talking about hers was definitely fair game (as much as she didn't want to), but Dean's? Not a chance. "Took out some demons, went out for drinks," she replied (better a half-truth than a full lie). "The usual stuff. What about you and Cas?"

"I still had some of Gadreel's grace in me."

That made her stop in her tracks and move Sam to her left palm. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. It would've gone away if Cas kept healing me. Cas was gonna extract it, and we were gonna use it to track him down, but I was gonna go back to the way I was before he possessed me."

"You mean how you were after trying to cure Crowley." The image of Sam lying unconscious on that hospital bed made her blood run cold. Sure she wanted to find Gadreel, but Sam going back to the way he was before...that was just not acceptable. "You better have stopped it." Her teeth were clenched when she said it. ( _please tell me you stopped it, sam. please._ )

"The thing is..." He trailed off, like he didn't want to continue.

"What? Come on, Sam, tell me!"

"I wasn't the one that stopped it, okay? I wanted to keep going, but Cas stopped the procedure and completely healed me."

It felt like the whole world stopped in its tracks, and her heart cracked. Robotically, she put him back on her shoulder and didn't say anything else.

And she kept walking toward Benkei, pulling the Blinding Snow fishing rod out of her pocket. Sam kept trying to speak, but she held up her free hand every time. He stopped trying when they reached Benkei.

The man chuckled. _"At last,"_ he stated, _"the time is near! Benkei the fisherman monk shall lay claim to his 1,000_ _th_ _sword! I have traveled far and wide challenging master swordsmen. And 999 swords have I claimed by my own hand. But now I have defeated all who would dare challenge me, that last sword has eluded me. I need but one more to make 1,000! And thus, aimlessly I have wandered... That is, until a legend drew me to Sei-An City. It is said that a Living Sword lies in the depths of Lake Beewa!"_

Aline poked him the moment he looked away.

 _"Have you heard the legend about Lake Beewa? Even I could barely believe it when I first heard, but they say a Living Sword swims freely about in these waters! If true, it would make a fitting addition as my 1,000th sword! This bridge is a very special contraption! With one command, I can make it passable, and another impassable. As you can see, it makes for a fine place to fish. It grieves me to cut off access to the city, but I'm afraid this bridge shall stay this way while I fish for the Living Sword! Of course, that may be easier said than done..."_

This time, she poked him with Blinding Snow.

 _"This is no mere fishing trip for me. This is a true battle with the Living Sword! I must therefore arm myself with the right weapon. That fishing rod over at the Tool Dealer in town would be perfect! Oh, you should see it! It is the purest of white, like new fallen snow. There is no chance of victory without that rod! Alas... It would appear that I cannot afford it. Oh, what am I to do... Hrmmm..."_ That was when he noticed that said-fishing rod was in her hand. _"Hrmmm? Th-Th-That's...! That's Blinding Snow, the rod from the Tool Dealer! With that fine rod, I would at last have a chance against the Living Sword! Now be a good doggie and give it here!"_

As she handed it over, she noticed Sam's eyes widen in realization.

"So _that's_ why you bought that!" he stated, earning a nod from the brunette while Benkei took it and raised it in the air in triumph.

 _"Oh, happy day! I have never fished before, but it should not be much different from a good swordfight! Now, to catch that 1,000th sword. I shall engage in mortal combat with the Living Sword!"_

After catching a smelt and a killifish, the Living Sword appeared. After powerslashing it multiple times, the cutlass fish, the Living Sword, was Benkei's.

 _"The gods be praised!"_ Benkei cheered, a wide smile on his face. _"At last! At last I have fulfilled my dream!"_

Right after he said that and saw what he'd been chasing, his smile fell, and there was an awkward silence as it sunk in.

 _"So that is the Living Sword?"_ he finally stated. _"That is what I have been pursuing all this time?"_

 _"Aw, don't take it so hard,"_ Sam reassured him. _"I mean, that WAS one big Cutlass Fish. And a cutlass IS a kind of sword, isn't it? Plus, what're the odds of catching an ocean fish in a lake!?"_

Benkei glared at him. _"Spare me such solace!"_ His glare lessened. _"But enough of that. A monk never goes back on his word! I shall make this jigsaw bridge passable once more!"_

With a single buttstomp, the Gojo Bridge rose into one giant bridge, and Aline and Sam left him behind, heading to the aristocratic quarter, but not before Sam stopped her.

 _"Whoa! Stop, Ammy! I thought this mist was coming from the lake or mountains... So what's that stuff rising from the Imperial Palace!? Let's keep going, furball!"_

And they kept going, but not before running into Dean, back as the half-baked prophet himself. Behind him was a line of people waiting to enter the giant building in front of them.

 _The Lecture Hall._

That was the moment she felt a surge of pain coming from inside of her, and she doubled over before falling on all fours. Sweat poured down her forehead as she groaned.

 _"ALINE!"_ Sam shouted, catching Dean's attention.

The older Winchester brother's hazel green eyes were wide, and he looked like he wanted to move, but he was stuck in place.

However, as fast as it had began, the pain disappeared just as quickly, and she stood up again, panting heavily.

"'m fine, guys. I'm fine," she reassured them with a smile as she continued walking toward Dean before he finally spoke.

 _"Well, well...,"_ he stated. _"Look what the cat dragged in... What took you so long, ma chérie?"_

 _"Ack...,"_ Sam cried out. _"Not you again! Well, you can't fool us! We're not gonna forget what you did to us back at Orochi's cave! And why do you keep popping up wherever we are anyway? What are you up to this time?"_ He was (both literally and figuratively) hopping mad.

 _"Hm?"_ Dean looked up as if he hadn't heard his brother. _"Excusez-moi, but I have no time to follow you around. You see, I'm busy looking for something."_

 _"Bah... Some prophet you are. Shouldn't you already know where to look?"_

 _"Well, maybe 'look' isn't the right word. I already KNOW where it is. It's just... Getting there is proving to be a bit of a problem. Suffice it to say, I want it quick and easy!"_

 _"Quick and easy...? Wait a sec... Don't tell me you're behind this funky mist? Is this part of a plan to conquer the city and take over the world!? You're always up to no good, so I wouldn't be surprised..."_

Aline laughed, already knowing what Waka was looking for. It was difficult to get there, even for him. _Especially_ getting inside.

 _"The world? Not bad, my little bouncing friend. You're only half wrong... I seek the other world... I desire a path to the heavens."_

 _"A path to the heavens? Oh, stop beating around the bush and let us know what's on your mind!"_

Dean let out a chuckle before adding, _"This path concerns you, too, ma chérie."_

 _"Huh?"_

 _"This city is in quite a bad state, is it not? Especially this ghastly mist that torments its people..."_

 _"You think we're stupid? We see right through you, pretty boy! Ha! We got ya all figured out! This funky mist and your so-called path to the heavens... You're in cahoots with Queen Himiko!"_

Dean ignored him and kept looking at Aline, making her blush as he kept speaking. _"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. So just take it step by step. You must first deal with this mist. It is slowly but surely killing the people of this city. Wait too long, and it's au revoir! The damage will already be done."_

 _"Why you—! Talking about it like it's someone else's problem! You're behind it all! Admit it already!"_

That was when Dean finally looked at Sam. _"Even if I was... What good would come out of arguing about it here? Methinks you should be doing something about the mist now. How about a tip this time instead of a prophecy?"_ With some fancy footwork, he added, _"'Go through the hole in the wall, little ones!'"_ After a bit of an awkward pause and a shrug, he cleared his throat with an _"Ahem"_. _"Let me put it this way... Even the most solid defense has a tiny gap like the eye of a needle! Or something like that... Understand, ma chérie?"_

Aline walked past Dean and talked to man a few inches away from Dean.

 _"I wonder how long it'll be before it's my turn,"_ the man said. _"This horrible choking mist is driving me crazy. I'm lucky if I can get any work done at all lately. I have to see Rao at least once a day to stay sane!"_

"Wait," Sam stated as Aline ran past the other people that were in line and up the stairs.

She stopped right at the door. "Yeah, Sam?" she answered.

"We're gonna see Rao?"

Aline _knew_ there was a grin on his face, probably remembering back when he'd bought the costume for her to wear to that convention four years ago. She glared at him before entering the lecture hall. There were piles and piles of rolled-up scrolls on shelves pushed against the wall. In front of one set of shelves was a desk. Sitting at the desk was a familiar looking woman.

The woman was wearing a nun's hood, a necklace of red beads, and a purple dress with a yellow sash. One of her eyes was covered by her bangs. Her hair color looked _extremely_ familiar to Aline.

Right then, Dean appeared next to her, back in his own clothes.

"I'll never get used to that," he said, shuddering before seeing where he was and his eyes landing on the woman in purple. His wide eyes quickly moved between the woman and Aline. Dean and Aline (with Sam on Dean's shoulder now) walked toward the desk, catching the woman's attention.

 _"Well...,"_ she stated, her voice as familiar as her hair. _"Who'd have thought there'd be a wolf in here of all places? The world is in turmoil. Have you come to listen to one of my sermons, wolf? Then allow me to introduce myself. My name is Rao. I'm the regent of Sei-An City. Appointed by Queen Himiko herself."_

Rao stood up and backflipped over the desk, landing on her feet. Her large breasts jiggled once before she placed her hand on her chest. The three hunters' eyes were locked on her chest. Aline looked up at the priestess's face, azure eyes locking on azure.

That was when she figured out why Rao looked so familiar to her, and her eyes widened and her jaw dropped in shock. She took a step back, looking at Rao up and down because _this isn't possible._

 _But it was._

"Th-That's...she's _me!"_ Aline exclaimed in shock.

Rao's hair was, indeed, brown, the same exact shade as Aline's. Same with her visible eye.

Dean looked between Rao and Aline, and he noticed it as well.

"Son of a bitch," he mumbled.

 _"So what's troubling you then?"_

Sam, however, didn't seem to hear anything his brother and Aline were saying, his eyes locked on Rao as he cried out, _"Holy cow, this sister's stacked!"_

If she wasn't shocked to her core, Aline would've laughed at hearing Sam talk like that, but this...this was _crazy._ Had something like this happened with her half-siblings? (she knew it didn't happen with Chibi.) She'd have to find a way to contact her mom (if it was even possible).

Why did this happen?

Why?

( _whywhywhywhywhywhywh—_ )

[Dean sent a quick glare Sam's way, but he laughed nonetheless. It was strange hearing Sam even utter the word 'stacked'. Maybe he could find a way to record this if it happened again...

...but then he looked at Aline. Her face was pale, eyes wide. He grabbed her hand, hoping it would pull her out of her own brain.]

Rao jumped in surprise, her breasts jiggling again (they did so every time she moved). _"Excuse me? Oh! You've got a cute little fairy with you!"_

(she even _sounded_ like Aline. It was crazy. _This_ was crazy.

Wait...did that mean...)

 _"The name's Issun! And by the way... It only looks like I'm staring at your melons!"_

 _"...Melons?"_

 _"Aw, never mind... Anyway, so you're runnin' things around here? Well, there's a funky mist covering the city... And there's talk of a Water Dragon or something off shore. So what's up with the queen holing herself up in her palace? The people of her city are dropping like flies, ya know. How can she be so lazy at a time like this?"_

Snapping out of her daze the minute she felt something hold her hand, she looked at Rao, studying her. The signs were obvious if someone was looking for them. _It looks like I'm right,_ she thought to herself before beginning to listen to the conversation.

 _"So, you've sensed the evil forces over Ryoshima too, then? I heard that dreaded Orochi was resurrected in Shinshu Field, though a brave swordsman vanquished him again. The ripples of those waves of chaos are reaching Ryoshima, too. The Water Dragon terrorizes the sea and an ill mist covers Sei-An. And in these last few days, the situation has intensified. I don't know what's happening to our peaceful Nippon!"_

 _"She said something about waves of chaos growing stronger recently... Hmmm...,"_ Sam muttered to himself, Aline, and Dean. _"A creepy shadow did scurry off when we defeated Orochi... Wonder if whatever it was took root here on Ryoshima Coast."_

 _"What are you muttering about, Issun?"_ Rao looked curiously at Sam.

 _"Well, this will no doubt come as quite a shock, but... The great slayer of the dreaded Orochi is right before your eyes. Behold, the great Amaterasu!"_

The busty priestess jumped in surprise. _"What!? This wolf!? But... I heard it was a swordsman called Susano!"_

Sam began sweating a bit. _"Huh!? Oh, uh, well... he may have dealt the final blow... But Ammy here did most of the work, I tell ya! And if you don't believe me... Ammy's gonna show ya some divine powers, right now!"_

Without talking to either Sam or Dean about it, Aline drew an inferno line from one of the candles on either side of the desk to Rao herself, surprising everyone.

"...why did you set yourself on fire?" Dean asked her.

Aline only shrugged while Rao jumped in surprise.

 _"What was that!?"_

Aline could tell Sam was _beaming_. _"You like it? That was one of Amaterasu's divine powers. A mere taste of what the Celestial Brush can do!"_

 _"Celestial Brush...?"_ Rao's blue eyes locked on Aline's own. _"What a mysterious and fearsome power you wield, Amaterasu!"_

 _"Ya got that right, sister! There ain't nothing Ammy can't do!"_

 _"Maybe this wolf... Maybe this wolf could help me with my quest!"_

There was something in those eyes that made Aline shiver. It wasn't something she could've seen while playing the game back in the bunker, but it was there at that moment.

Both Sam and Dean, however, were oblivious to that something, Sam moreso than Dean because, at that moment, he was Issun, not Sam Winchester.

 _"Your quest? What more could you want? You're already stacked to the ceiling!"_

 _That_ made Aline laugh, but Rao got a depressed look on her face (it was as if Aline was looking in a mirror. The expressions this...clone? twin?...made were the exact same as her own) and looked at the hardwood floor.

 _"...never mind. Forget I said anything. Now that I've lost my Prayer Slips, the situation is completely hopeless."_

 _"C'mon! Tell us what you want!"_

 _"It doesn't matter. Just forget about it. I have many favors I want to ask, no that I've seen your powers. But without my Prayer Slips, there is nothing anyone can do."_

Before leaving the hall, Aline, motioning toward Sam, sent a quick grin Dean's way before switching to her wolf form and headbutted Rao.

 _"H-Hey!"_

Sam immediately started beaming, hearts in his eyes, as he said dreamily, _"Oh, the wonders of nature! A deep valley between two lofty peaks!"_

They left the hall, Dean and Aline laughing while Sam's face turned crimson in embarrassment.

"I can't help what I say. You guys know that!" he exclaimed while Aline morphed back to her anthro form.

"We know, but it's still hilarious!" Dean replied as they walked through the misty aristocratic quarter.

"I didn't know you had a crush on me, Sammy," Aline teased, making Sam's blush darken.

"Shut up, Gimli," Sam grumbled. "...Wait a minute...that was you!? But...you're..."

Aline nodded. "I'm gonna find out a way to ask my mom because I don't get it either. Let's just find the Prayer Slips and get outta here."

* * *

It turned out the Prayer Slips were just outside the Emperor's palace, the source of the acrid mist. There were two guards at the gate, preventing the trio from entering the palace. The Prayer Slips, however, were in front of a small crack in the wall where more of the mist was leaking from. As soon as the trio were close to the Prayer Slips, Aline was able to hear the conversation between the two guards, but she didn't look their way to see which one of them was talking.

 _"Psst!"_ There was a pause that lasted less than a minute. _"Psst! Can you hear me?"_

 _"What? We're supposed to be on duty!"_

 _"Well, it's just... I wanted to ask you something. Um, what's your opinion of His Highness?"_

 _"What do you mean? Surely you're not doubting the worth of our honorable Emperor! True, he's had to take to his bed because of this strange illness. But I'm full of hope that he'll soon make a speedy recovery."_

 _"And I am too, of course! But there's something about his strange illness that bothers me. That swirling mist is a little out of the ordinary, don't you think? The moment the Emperor took ill, it started to come from his room. And then, before we knew it, it had taken over the whole city! People are really starting to suffer from it, too. Well? Don't you think it's all a bit of a coincidence?"_

Another pause. _"It's definitely odd. I'll grant you that. But it's no use trying to ask His Highness how he feels. He just sends everyone away, and he won't even see a doctor. So I don't see that there's anything we can do about it."_

 _"But what about that girl locked up in the cell all alone? She shouldn't be locked up like that. She's done nothing wrong!"_

 _"You mean that girl called Kaguya, right? Hm. Orders are orders, so we had no choice but to lock her up. But I can't quite see why His Highness wanted us to do it. The city's in a real mess ever since he took ill like this. I wonder what's going on inside the palace..."_

One more step up, and they found the Prayer Slips.

The minute she got close to them, Sam spoke up, _"Hm? Check out these slips of paper. Looks like each one has a spell or something on it. But I have no idea how to use 'em. Don't think they'd do us much good."_

After picking them up, Aline looked at one at the top of the pile. She clenched both her free hand into a fist and her jaw, trying not to tear up...

...but it didn't work since she felt a tear fall from her eye. She quickly wiped it away and led them back to Rao's Lecture Hall, putting the Slips into her pocket.

[Both Dean and Sam looked at her curiously. They noticed that tear. First, Aline'd almost cried at the mention of the Water Dragon. Now, she'd almost started crying just looking at a Prayer Slip?

Dean hoped that whatever was causing him to not know what was going on would go away. And fast.]

* * *

It didn't take them as long to get back to the Lecture Hall as it did to find the Prayer Slips, but they were back, nonetheless. And Aline had pulled them out of her pocket, holding them out to the busty priestess.

Rao jumped in surprise. _"What have you...!? My Prayer Slips! You found them? In this huge city!? Thank you! They're indispensable in my fight against the evil beings. I was sure one of them had stolen from me. Thank goodness! Yes, your ability to sniff things out really is a divine power,"_ Rao said gratefully as she put the slips into her own pocket. _"Your name's Amaterasu, correct, wolf? Well, Amaterasu, would you put your powers to use for us?"_

 _"Hm? You saying we're the answer to your prayers?"_ Sam asked.

 _"I'm saying you are our only hope. As you have seen, Ryoshima Coast is in turmoil. All because of the evil rising from the darkness... Because of the forces of darkness."_

 _"Forces of darkness?"_

 _"Yes. Next to them, the monsters out there in the wild are nothing! They're starting to spread over Ryoshima Coast. And with Queen Himiko confined to her palace, it all falls to me. Normally, I'd use my holy powers to dispel any threat to the city. But this foe is too strong for me. So I have no choice but to ask this favor. Lend me your powers!"_

 _"So that means we'd end up helping Himiko after all? I dunno... Sounds kinda fishy to me."_

 _"There are some who think the queen is a coward to shut herself away. But she cares for her subjects. She's praying for our protection. But even she can't calm the Water Dragon and exorcise the city. Not without that sacred treasure to enhance her holy powers. That's what I want you to help me find!"_

Aline was noticing it was starting to grow easy to forget what was going to happen later, easy to trust Rao. But she shook herself out of it. The signs were all there. She just hadn't dropped the biggest one yet, but Aline knew that was coming.

Gritting her teeth, Aline tapped on Rao's shoulder to get her to continue speaking.

 _"Please, Amaterasu! Let me ask you once again. Will you listen to what I have to ask?"_

"Sure," Aline said, crossing her arms over her own chest.

 _"Aw, what the heck... Let's hear what this stacked babe has to say,"_ Sam stated, earning chuckles from both his brother and Aline.

The "stacked babe" looked confused for a second. _"Stacked? Anyway.. When you came here to the city, did you see it? Right off the coast near the Ryoshima border, there lies a sunken treasure ship, a victim of the Water Dragon's rampage. That ship was a trading vessel, working between here and abroad. It was transporting a great treasure, ordered by Queen Himiko. But the Water Dragon attacked every ship in the water. It sunk the ship and its precious cargo right in front of the port! The Fox Rods that the queen had finally managed to locate, a matchless treasure with the power to defeat any foe, would have been Sei-An City's. If we had the Fox Rods now, we could drive out the evil beings. Amaterasu, will you come to the treasure ship with me, and help me search its cargo for the Fox Rods?"_

 _"You want us to search for treasure on a sunken ship? Well, I'd do anything for a cute babe, but... If my boss here says no, there ain't much I can do. Well, boss? We gonna help this busty babe, or what?"_

"Sure. Why not?" Aline responded with a shrug.

 _"Bummer! Well, the boss has spoken..."_ But then it seemed to hit Sam what she'd _actually_ said. _"Huh? What was that, Ammy!?"_

Rao was practically beaming as she jumped up and down for joy for a few seconds. _"Thank you, Amaterasu! You're a true savior! OK, let's go to the treasure ship right away, then! Although..."_ She trailed off, thinking for a moment. _"We must wait a while until the new moon rises in the night sky. In the shallows where the ship ran aground, called the Lunar Lagoon, the tide only recedes when the new moon is seen from the Moon Turret. When the tide's out, it's easy to get into the treasure ship. We'll meet at the ship, on the night of the next new moon."_

Right when Aline and Dean were about to exit the Lecture Hall, Sam let her have it, hopping mad. _"Boy, Ammy, you seemed really eager to help her!"_ She heard the grin in his voice (that disappeared after the next sentence) as he added, _"Well, I couldn't say no to those two either. But we can't let our guard down. I mean, who knows? That busty babe might be Himiko's puppet. And if they're up to no good, then we should get our hands on those Fox Rods before they do!"_

Before they could even exit, the world around them began to blend together, and it was replaced by the puke green ceiling of her's and Dean's motel room.

* * *

 **A/N:** Yep. Surprise! Not only is Aline playing as Amaterasu, she's also playing as Rao! Also, there is a reference to a SPN season 4 fic I wrote that I haven't posted on here yet called "Cowboys & Priestesses." Here's the summary of it: 'Aline and the Winchesters decide to go to a convention, at Sam's insistence. Aline, unfortunately, has to deal with Sam's costume choice for her after losing a bet. **'  
**

I'll post it (along with the other SPN season fics I wrote) eventually, but, if you wanna read it now, it's on both my writing Tumblr (oldfashioncdvillain) and my AO3 (DeanGirl2Y5, just like on here). It's in my AO3 series called _DeanGirl2Y5's Seasons of Supernatural._ The fic it's in is called _Oh Lazarus, Were You So Afraid? (Season Four)._ Anyway, hope you liked this chapter, and I'll try not to keep you waiting _too_ long for chapter 4!

 _ **FUN FACT:**_ That _"Holy cow, this sister's stacked!"_ scene is one of my favorite Issun scenes in the game. Heck, most of the conversations between Issun and Rao I love. But we're not even _close_ to my another of my favorite Issun scenes. That's not gonna be for a while yet.


	4. Sharp Teeth

**A/N:** Beefer chapter number 2! 14 pages. 8,079 words.

I wanted to make up for my lack of not posting anything ( _especially_ since I didn't feel like writing this fic. I started writing other fics that I had in my head). The next chapter is ready, and it has been ready for a while. I literally wrote it in my notebook. I'm also gonna be posting something related to this fic, which is something I should've done a while ago. It'll be the next chapter I post.

Anyway, hope you enjoy! Sorry about the wait!

* * *

It had been two weeks since Aline and Dean had left Sam in the rearview mirror and five days since the three of them saw Sei-An City. Honestly, five days wasn't long enough (in Aline's opinion, at least) to get over seeing herself as Rao. She was just as shaken by it as she'd been when she first saw it.

She'd tried reaching out to her mother for answers, but so far nothing, like she wasn't listening anymore.

Would it still have happened even if she didn't take the mark? If she didn't accept that shadow's offer?

There was no way to know for sure...

...but then she remembered seeing Dean stare at her shadow back in the Moon Cave. And what Sam had said he'd seen during her fight with the Spider Queen in the Tsuta Ruins.

Then, she realized while sitting in the Impala as Dean drove to Grantsburg Memorial Hospital (they'd picked up on a video on the police wire that the police in town had arrested a John Doe matching Garth's description for killing a cow), what was coming later down the line wasn't effected by the mark in the slightest.

Too lost in thought, she didn't see that Dean'd pulled up to their destination and put Baby in park until he was poking her arm, making her look his way.

"You good?" he asked, looking worried.

 _Could_ she tell him what she'd have to do later? She knew he'd find out eventually. Maybe she could tell him now, otherwise he'd freak out. Instead, she replied, "'m fine, Dee. Let's just go find out if the guy they arrested really is Garth."

Garth had disappeared six months ago, walking out on Sam, Dean, Aline, and Kevin. The fact that they'd possibly found him again...

It was that that had her bouncing her leg in both nervousness and excitement as they got out of the car. The expression on Dean's face, however, told her he didn't buy her lie, which would _definitely_ lead to more questions later.

Now, though, they had things to do, like why Garth (if it was Garth, and there was no doubt in Aline's mind that it _was_ him) had killed a cow.

She fixed her shirt, and they walked inside the hospital.

* * *

Suffice to say, the man the police arrested in room 113 was, in fact, Garth. He looked thinner and he was cuffed to the bed, but, thankfully, his breathing was steady. He had scratches on his face, but he was still in one piece.

Yet there was something about him that seemed... _off_ to Aline.

Don't get her wrong, she was happy to see him (despite the fact he'd left Kevin, Sam, Dean and her in the dust six months ago). There was still something different about him. She looked him up and down, and leaned close to him to get a better look at him.

"What are you doing?" Dean asked. He was standing on the opposite side of the bed with a confused look on his face, holding a syringe.

"Something's different about him," she answered.

"Well, he _has_ been gone for six months. A lot can change in that amount of time. I mean, far as he knows, you're a skinwalker."

Aline shook her head. "That's not what I mean." She paused, scenting Garth. He still smelled like himself, but there was an undercurrent of something else that she couldn't really describe, something familiar. "He smells different."

She saw Dean cock a brow. "Like what? What's he smell like, Scoob?"

Rolling her eyes (it wasn't the first time Dean'd called her that, and it probably wouldn't be the last), she stood up straight. "It's...hard to describe."

"Try to."

She had to think about it for a minute. The scent was appealing, that was a fact. But how could she describe it. Then she snapped her fingers. "It's like the very faint smell of wet tree bark."

"...wet tree bark?"

"I don't know! Like I said, it's hard to describe, but I _know_ I recognize it from somewhere. I just can't figure it out. Silver lining? Not demon. They usually smell like sulfur, third degree burns, and fresh blood. Makes my nose burn even when I'm just thinking about it. Cain, on the other hand, smelled like that, but he smelled more like honey. Maybe it was just because of the fact he keeps bees."

"What about angel?"

"No. Angels don't smell like that."

"What do they smell like?"

"Each one smells differently. Cas smells like hibiscuses, Gabriel smelled like cotton candy and violas, Michael smelled like marigolds, and Lucifer smelled like white roses."

"What about..." Dean trailed off, unwilling to say Gadreel's name.

She barely had to think of it. "He smells like dahlias. You and Sam have scents too."

"Because we're archangel vessels."

"Pretty much. I mean, you have your regular scents and underneath those are your angel scents."

"What are Sam's?"

"Sam smells like blood, musk, and libraries with an undercurrent of garden roses. I could actually smell the garden roses more when he was possessed by that angel with the dahlias underneath, but, when that angel was in control, I mainly smelled dahlias with the garden roses, blood, musk, and libraries underneath."

"What about me?"

"Whiskey, gunpowder, and leather with an undercurrent of gladiolus. After you come back from the bar, I smell the whiskey more mixed with sex and cheap perfume. After Hell, you actually smelled a bit like a demon, except you smelled like first degree burns instead of third. After Purgatory, you smelled more like blood and guts."

"So, long story short, angels smell good, demons smell like crap, and whatever Garth is smells like wet tree bark."

"You got it."

With a nod, Dean motioned for her to keep an eye on the door, smirking as he inquired, "Since when do you pay attention to what I smell like?"

"Since we started hunting together, you ass. Whenever we hunt, I had to learn to take both yours and Sam's scents out of the equation just to figure out what monster we're hunting." Her face had heated up. Thankfully, she was facing away from him, so he couldn't see her expression.

A few seconds later, the knob began to move, and she poked Dean. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched him hide the syringe behind his back the moment the door opened.

Fortunately, the person who entered wasn't one of the nurses. It was Sam, all dressed up in his fed suit. He shot the two of them annoyed looks, and Dean returned the glare.

Aline, however, was beating herself up, realizing that she should've known that it was Sam all things considered. But the only things she could smell currently were disinfectants, rubber gloves, and clorox, all of which practically overpowered other scents including Sam's, Dean's, and Garth's (which was why she had to lean in to even get a _whiff_ of Garth's).

The trio stood in silence as they watched the unconscious Garth and exchanged wary looks with each other. One would think, after seeing Sei-An City and making jokes about Sam saying the word "stacked", that they wouldn't be wary of each other, but that would be wrong.

Until Sam finally said, "Saw Garth's John Doe on the police wire. You?"

Aline was silent, staring at Garth like he was a puzzle she couldn't figure out.

Which was why Dean answered with, "Yeah. Where you comin' from?"

"New Mexico."

That caught her attention. "Well," she said, "that's a haul. Especially considering that me and Dean got this, uh...pretty much covered, so if you want to..." She clicked her tongue and motioned to the door.

The younger Winchester ignored her, instead choosing to look at Dean. "You spoken to him yet?"

Dean looked over at Aline with an apologetic look on his face before looking back at Sam. "No. Assload of painkillers. He's been out since I got here."

That was when Sam noticed that Garth was handcuffed to the bed. "What's he being charged with?"

"Killing a cow," Aline answered, causing Sam to (finally) look her way.

"Why?"

"We were about to see if we could find out," Dean responded. "Lock the door."

Sam moved to lock the door but rushed back when Dean pulled the syringe from behind his back.

"Whoa. Hey. What is that? Adrenaline?"

"Yes, sir."

"You trying to jump-start him or kill him?"

"Aline & I want some answers. He walked out on Kevin. He walked out on the three of us. So if you got a better idea..."

Sam sighed and then slapped Garth full in the face.

The younger man shot awake, screaming out, "Aah! Aah! Aah!" He stopped, looking between the three hunters standing at his bed. "Dean? Sam? Aline? What is this? A hospital? Wait. Am I in heaven?"

Aline could smell his confusion. "All right," she reassured him (despite her own confusion growing), "take it easy, Garth. You're in Wisconsin."

"You were hit by a car," Sam said. "Do you remember anything?"

"I, uh...," Garth replied, groaning. "Vaguely." He pulled his hand up to hold his head, but it was stopped by the handcuffs. "What's with the hardware?"

Aline unlocked the cuffs and removed them the moment she noticed Sam move.

"You tell us," Dean stated. "And while you're at it, why don't you give us the lowdown on why you went AWOL for the past six months? Only way we tracked you down is that you offed a cow."

"Offed a...what? I—I—I was on a hunt."

"Hunt for what?" Aline asked.

"I—oh, no." Garth turned green, looking like he was about to throw up. "Oh, get back. Ohh. Oh, God." In a panic, he pulled all the monitors and IV off, jumped out of bed, and rushed to the bathroom, shutting the door behind him before they could hear him gag and retch.

Dean grinned. "Good thing I didn't give him the adrenaline."

* * *

There was a deafening silence between the Winchesters and Aline. They were still sitting in Garth's hospital room, and Garth was still in the bathroom, vomiting and coughing. Dean and Aline were sitting next to each other on one side of the room, Sam on the other.

"Anything on Gadreel?" Dean asked, making small talk.

"Actually, uh, yeah," Sam said. "Turns out he, uh, he left some Grace in me before he bolted."

Aline looked over at him with a raised brow. "You know how wrong that sounds, right?" she pointed out.

"Wouldn't worry about it. Cas took care of it."

Both Dean and Aline chuckled before Dean hummed.

"What?"

Dean waved it off. "Nothing. We're gone for two weeks, and you're like an episode of 'Teen Mom.'" The sound of Garth's continued retching and coughing caught their attention. "Just breathe, Garth! Work it out."

Out of the corner of her eye, Aline noticed that Sam saw part of the mark of Cain.

"What happened to your arm? It's in the same place as..." Sam trailed off, his eyes moving to Aline's arm.

Dean pulled up his sleeve so that Sam could see it better. "Oh. It's a...gift from Cain."

"Like...the wrestler?"

"Nah. That woulda been pretty awesome, though," Aline replied, earning a nod from Dean.

"The, uh...The Old Testament dude," Dean threw in as the toilet flushed in the bathroom. "He got all Biblical on me and gave me his mark."

"What does it even mean? How—how did that happen?" Sam asked, looking between the duo.

Aline rubbed her arm before looking away from the younger Winchester. Her eyes were on the bathroom door, watching for Garth.

"Crowley, Aline, and I found him, and he gave me this so that I could eighty-six Abaddon once and for all," Dean answered, knowing that Aline didn't want to answer Sam.

"You two worked a job with Crowley?"

Aline shrugged, her eyes still on the door. "The devil you know..." She trailed off, noticing that there were no sounds coming from the bathroom. "Garth?" she called out.

"What?"

The three hunters rushed into the bathroom. Garth was nowhere to be found, and the window was wide open.

"Son of a bitch," Dean muttered.

* * *

Split up and look for clues. It definitely sounded like they're lives had turned into a real-life episode of _Scooby-Doo,_ but that was the only thing they could do after finding out Garth had escaped. Sam went to talk with the farmer that had called the cops on Garth, and Dean and Aline went to see what they could find on the roof cameras.

The duo were now walking out of the hospital with several papers and photos in their hands. Dean had the papers while Aline had the photos. The pictures were perfect shots of Garth and his escape, the car, and full shots of the license plate.

"I don't think we should let Sam hunt with us," Aline said, catching Dean's attention. "Before you say anything, I know that he's already involved in my replay of my mom's memories, but I don't wanna drag him through this anymore than what's necessary. I hurt him once, and I ain't about to do it again."

Dean took a moment to fix the photos before looking her right in the eyes. "If you think that I'm gonna disagree with you, I'm not. I'd definitely rather Sam not get involved. Let him think we hit a dead end, and we'll find out where Garth went ourselves," he replied.

"That's what I was gonna suggest, you know. It's scary how much we're on the same page nowadays."

He shrugged. "We usually are."

"But not _this_ much."

Just then, Dean's cellphone rang, catching their attentions and distracting them from the topic. He pulled it out and, after showing her that Sam was the one that was calling, answered it. "Yeah."

 _"So,"_ Sam said, making Aline's ears twitch toward the phone, _"the cow wasn't just killed. It was eviscerated."_

"Well, why was Garth there?"

 _"He said he was on a hunt, right? Maybe he was hunting whatever killed it."_

"Why would he run? This whole thing's starting to stink. You know that, right?"

 _"Yeah. What about you guys? Any luck?"_

Dean glanced over at her, shaking his head. "Uh, nada. Cameras were pointing in the wrong direction."

 _"You're kidding."_ Sam sounded unconvinced.

"Wish I was."

 _"Hmm. So..."_

"...so Garth's a hunter. If he wants to stay gone, he's gone."

 _"We got nothing?"_

"Well, what can I say, Sammy? We lost this one. Send me 'n Aline a postcard."

That was the moment when Dean and Aline walked around an ambulance and ran right into Sam. The younger Winchester immediately snatched the photos out of Aline's hands, looking through them.

Sam glared. "Wow. Make, model, license plate. Really guys?" he questioned, clearly angry.

"The three of us can't hunt together, Sam," Aline told him. "It's for your own good."

"I hear you. And after we find Garth and get to the bottom of this, I'm gone. But until then, no more games."

Aline and Dean glanced at each other before Dean nodded. "Ride belongs to a girl named Bess Meyers," he said. "She lives in the next town over."

* * *

It took seconds for them to kick Bess's door down, guns drawn. Sure enough, Garth was inside, holding his hands up.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Whoa, whoa! Hey, guys. I can explain," Garth stated. "Everything's cool. Just a simple misunderstanding."

"Who you talking to?" Aline inquired, once again smelling his confusion.

"What?"

"The girl?"

"What—what girl? What the—"

Dean pointed grabbed a bra from the table and held it up.

"What, now?"

Dean motioned Sam to the right, and he went left. Aline stayed where she was, catching that familiar scent again even as she kept her eyes on Garth. It overpowered almost everything in the room. The scent was _really_ starting to bother her. What was it?

The sound of Sam and Dean's footsteps pushed that thought to the back burner, the area apparently clear.

"All right, all right. Guys, everyone needs to take a chill pill and put their guns down. You see? Let's all be grown-ups here and have an adult conversation."

Suddenly, there was the sound of something jumping from the closet behind Sam. Aline whirled around and saw a female werewolf on top of him. Without even thinking about it, she pulled out Tsumugari and went to make a move, but Garth leaped in between Dean, her, and the werewolf.

 _"No!"_ Garth shouted.

"Garth, what the hell?" she growled, but Sam was able to nick the werewolf with a silver knife, and the wound burned.

"Sam! Sam, please—don't hurt her."

"What are you doing?!" Dean yelled. "She's a _werewolf!"_

"So am I." And Aline froze.

* * *

Minutes passed, and Garth and the werewolf were sitting on the couch as he tended to her arm. Aline was currently punching herself for not being able to recognize werewolf when she smelled it. Then again, they hadn't been a lot of werewolf cases recently, and she'd had a lot on her plate, what with having to go through Amaterasu's memories and all.

There was tenderness in Garth's touch as he tended to the wound, reminding Aline of how Dean cleaned her up after a hunt gone wrong. "It's okay, baby," he muttered. "Hold it like that."

"What are they doing here, Garth?" the she-werewolf inquired, glaring at the trio.

"They're friends. I promise."

"They're _hunters."_ There was so much disdain in her tone that it made Aline flinch.

"All right. We've all gotten off on the wrong foot here. So let's do things right. Guys...this is Bess...my beloved. And, Bess, that's Dean. Now, he could start a fight in an empty house, but deep down inside, he's just a big ol' Teddy bear." Dean looked annoyed, but Sam and Aline chuckled. "And Aline here—Aline looks like a dangerous hunter/skinchanger, but she's just a cute puppy."

That stopped Aline's chuckles, and she glared at the younger man. "Actually, I'm a child of Amaterasu, Garth," she corrected, making his eyes widen.

"When'd you find that out?"

"Months ago. Don't wanna let other hunters know unless it's absolutely necessary, but I would've told you if I knew where you were. Hell, you would've been one of the first people I told."

Garth blinked, silent as he processed the information, before continuing with his introductions. "And, finally, Sam here—Sam can be a bit insecure at times, but for good reason. Bless his heart."

"Especially about being a little bug," Dean whispered in Aline's ear, making her giggle and making Sam glare at him.

"That's sweet," Aline stated. "Werewolf?"

"All right, look—about six months ago, I was outside Portland, Maine, hunting this big bad wolf. I took him down, but... He bit me in the process."

"And you didn't call one of us?" Dean inquired incredulously.

"And tell you what? That I messed up? No, I-I knew the deal. There's no cure, so I accepted my fate. Ate my favorite dish of egg fu Yung, watched the world's greatest movie, 'Rocky III', and then... was ready to eat a bullet, when Bess here found me."

"And how'd she do that?" Sam asked.

"Smelled him. How else?" Bess answered.

Aline nodded. "Makes sense. You can smell a newbie. And that's why I could smell when you were confused. Normally, I can't do that with humans. Except when they're monsters. No offense."

"None taken, but yeah. She talked the gun out of my mouth, and, as they say, the rest is history. We've been married for four months now."

"You're _married?"_ Sam asked.

"To a werewolf," Dean added.

"Yes. And my pack has taken him in as one of our own," Bess answered.

"Guys, it's not what you think. We don't hurt people," Garth supplied.

"No, you just go all Wolverine on cattle," Aline guessed.

"Yeah."

"At least he's not eating human hearts. Do you have any idea how hard it is for a bitten to control his instincts, like Garth does? How well he's doing?" Bess defended.

"Thank you, baby."

"Well, it's the truth, honey bunny."

Aline cringed at the cutesy nickname.

"Wait," Sam interrupted. "A—a 'bitten'? You're all bitten."

"Not at all. You're either born into it, like I was, or you're bitten, like Garth," Bess corrected.

"Hold on. You said you were—you were born a werewolf?" Dean questioned.

"Second generation."

"Garth, can we talk to you for a sec? Alone?"

Garth looked over at Bess. "Honey, why don't you go find some ointment for that arm? Okay?" he asked her, and she left the room with a nod.

"What the hell?" Dean asked the moment she was out of earshot.

"Look, I know you guys want to shoot first and ask questions later, but I checked everything out. This pack is clean. Everything's Kosher."

"Right. Uh, minus the part where your wife attacked me," Sam pointed out.

"Yeah, because you three came busting in here like a house on fire. Guns waving, the jawlines and the hair—it's very intimidating? What'd you expect? Dean, Aline, no one wants any trouble. You got my word on that."

Aline shook her head. "Oh, no. That ship has sailed. We're gonna need a hell of a lot more than your word," she said.

"Okay. Okay. Tell you what. You want proof? Come pray with us."

Sam, Dean, and Aline exchanged looks.

* * *

Hours later, the Impala pulled up outside the farmhouse. Dean and Aline got out and walked back to the trunk as Dean's phone rang. Dean put it on speaker.

 _"You guys there?"_ Sam inquired.

"Yeah, just pulled up," Dean replied. "Nothing too sketchy yet."

 _"That's a good thing, right?"_

Aline shook her head. "Not betting on it," she responded.

 _"Or are we just that jaded? I mean, maybe Garth's right."_

"Well, ain't you a glass half full," Dean stated. "Any luck with the cops?"

 _"Uh, sheriff should be rolling up any second. Be careful."_

"Yeah. Aline's got Tsumugari, Snarling Beast, Divine Retribution, Life Beads, Infinity Judge, and the Devout Beads on standby." He then hung up and the duo approached the house.

Aline could hear people singing inside. They stopped, and she heard a man's voice say, "We need to come in strong on the second verse. Let's try it again. Garth, play it from here. And..." The singing resumed. It _did_ sound friendly, like Garth claimed. Then again, so was that old couple that the Winchesters and Aline killed back in Seattle in 2008 and Bonnie. Aline and Dean walked up the stairs, and Dean knocked on the front door. An older woman answered with a smile.

"You must be Dean and Aline. I'm Joy, Garth's mother-in-law. Uh, stepmother-in-law, which I always thought sounded so silly. Please, come in. We're just finishing up," Joy Meyers greeted, motioning the two inside.

Aline shuffled between her feet, clearly uncomfortable and on edge. A _very_ unnoticeable glance in Dean's direction let her know that he was feeling the same. There was also something about the woman that made Aline feel even _more_ uncomfortable and the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

"Why don't you just tell Garth we're here?" he inquired.

Joy's smile widened. "Dean, you have my word—the both of you are safe under my roof. I only ask the same in return. After all...I'm not the one carrying silver and divine weapons."

Both Dean and Aline slowly entered and walked to the doorway of the living room, where the scent of werewolves was the strongest. Joy joined the group in the room singing some kind of hymn. Aline blocked it out, instead focusing on Garth. The younger man was happily playing the piano, and, when the group was finished singing, he played an off-key conclusion that made both herself and Dean chuckle slightly.

"Uh... Thank you, brother Garth," an older man (who was clearly the group leader) stated. "Wonderful accompaniment, as usual. And I'll see the rest of you in the pews—9:00 am, sharp. No stragglers...Sister Amelia."

The other people in the room laughed, and Garth joined Dean and Aline at the doorway. "Oh. Hi," he greeted. "So, what'd I tell you? It's all good, right?" He sounded pleased and proud.

"Yeah, not all good," Dean said, and Aline nodded, agreeing with him. She leaned closer to Dean, mostly to not be overwhelmed by the werewolf scent that was slowly starting to make her want to sneeze.

"Oh, come on, you two. You just got to meet them." He pointed to two men. "That's Russ and Joba, Bess' first cousins on sister Joy's side." Russ and Joba waved. Garth pointed to the group leader. "That's Reverend Jim, Bess's dad—leader of the pack and a good man."

Jim Meyers walked over and held out his hand. "Dean and Aline, isn't it?" he asked. "Welcome. Jim Meyers. Folks usually call me..."

"Reverend Jim. Yeah, we got it," Dean interrupted, not shaking his hand.

Aline looked at his hand and clenched her jaw while leaning closer to Dean, also not shaking Reverend Jim's hand.

Garth chuckled uncomfortably. "Oh. Uh, my bad. Dean's got this crazy fear of germs. And Aline's pregnant. Heightened sense of smell, ya know?"

Aline's eyes widened at how Garth covered her actions. 'Pregnant'?

Reverend Jim nodded. "I understand your apprehension, Dean and Aline. Hunters and our kind don't have the best history together," he stated.

Joy moved to stand by her husband. "But I think you'll find we're not much different from you," she supplied.

"Oh, sister, I highly doubt it," Dean replied.

"Why don't we break bread and see?" Reverend Jim suggested.

"Why would Aline and I do that?"

The couple sighed and then left for the dining room. Garth's eyes were wide with shock.

"Dean!" Garth admonished.

"What? Also, _pregnant?_ Really?"

A short time later, after both Dean and Aline had gone outside to give Aline's nose a bit of a break, everyone was seated at the table, Dean and Aline next to each other. Joy served raw animal organs to the entire table, but she gave Dean and Aline overcooked steaks, corn, and burnt biscuits. The two hunters shared twin almost sick looks.

"Now," Joy stated after sitting down, "everybody eat up. But make sure you leave room for pie."

"Sister Joy's pies are famous throughout the badger state," Reverend Jim told Dean and Aline.

"Mm," Garth said while eating. "Both Dean and Aline love pie."

Aline whirled toward Garth and glared daggers at him for even mentioning that fact before closing her eyes and sending a quick prayer to her mother, picking up her fork & knife and attempting to cut her steak. The act earned a questioning look from Dean, but she shrugged.

"Don't you guys say some sort of a Grace or something?" Dean questioned.

"We're more spiritual than we are religious. We believe, much like the American Indians did, that nature and man are one," Reverend Jim replied.

"Yeah, really worked out well for them," Aline snarked, earning a glare from Garth. She and Dean shared another look before she noticed silver bullets hanging around every person's neck. "So, why are a bunch of werewolves wearing silver bullets around their necks?"

Garth coughed. "Sorry, Aline, but we don't use the 'W' word around here. We prefer the term 'lycanthrope,'" he told her, earning a pointed look from the two hunters.

"'We'?" Dean questioned.

"They're entitled to their opinions, Garth," Reverend Jim stated simply.

"Why do you wear those beads around your neck?" Bess asked Aline, motioning to the Life Beads dangling around her neck.

"Ease of access," Aline responded. "It's a Rosary that draws upon pure life energy to destroy evil. I have another one on as a belt, but that doesn't answer my question, Moony. Nice subject change, though."

"Many of our kind see themselves as indestructible. This is a constant reminder of how precious our lives truly are."

"Yeah, but it's silver. I mean, doesn't it burn?"

It was Garth's turn to answer. "Yeah, it does a bit, but that's kind of the point. It reminds us of our fragility."

"My daughter, Bess, was born a lycanthrope. It was one of the proudest days of my life," Reverend Jim began, inhaling deeply. "Which soon turned tragic... When a hunter killed my wife. Believe me when I tell you, I wanted to make someone pay. Then I looked at Bess, and I realized the road to revenge is a dark and lonely one, which you never get off. And that hole in the pit of your stomach, you never fill it—ever."

"Hey, no, I get it," Dean responded.

"So I chose to look forward, not backwards. And the minute I did that, the powers that be brought this beautiful, compassionate, amazing woman into my life." He smiled at Joy. "And she helped me raise a little baby girl as if Bess were her own."

Joy smiled back. "I can't take all the credit. Daddy had a hand in it, too. He saw your potential," she stated, earning questioning looks from Dean and Aline.

"Daddy?"

"My father—bless his soul—was the previous reverend of our church, the third generation in our family to serve."

For some reason, that made an unpleasant shudder run up and down Aline's spine. "So, you're fourth-generation werewolf?" she asked.

"Yes."

* * *

Aline and Dean were in the kitchen, Aline staying as close to Dean as possible while he opened the fridge. There were platters of raw organs, making Aline scrunch her nose at the sight of it. Both hunters turned around when they heard people behind them, who just so happened to be Russ and Joba.

"Still hungry?" Russ inquired.

"Yeah, we were just, uh...seeing if you had any beer or soda," Dean replied.

Russ and Joba moved in threateningly, pinning both hunters in the corner. Dean and Aline keep their gazes steady, Aline slipping her hand into the pocket where Tsumugari was.

"The sooner you both realize that all is good here, the sooner you can go," Russ told them.

"Don't you two have a chew toy or something to go play with?" Aline said evenly, struggling to not snarl or growl. Thankfully, Garth came into the kitchen.

"Hey, guys," he greeted. "You mind if I grab a second with Dean and Aline, here?"

The two antagonistic-acting men left, and Garth, Dean, and Aline moved to a window.

"Why are you two being so hard on everyone?" he asked.

"Because there's no way that all of this is what it looks like," Dean answered. "No way."

"Why not?"

Aline looked at Garth incredulously. "Come on, dude. I know you drank the kool-aid, okay? But come on," she stated.

"Look, amigos... I know this all looks nuts, but I found it. Love and a family? Who _cares_ where that all comes from?"

"We do," Dean replied.

"I get it. When I first got here, I couldn't let go, either. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. But when it didn't, I had to accept the truth."

"Well, I got another truth for you—we were all left in the dark when you went AWOL. We didn't know whether you were dead or worse. You should've reached out and sent _someone_ a message."

"And said what, Aline? That I was a werewolf? I was embarrassed. I thought it best for everyone if I just stayed away. But that doesn't mean that I didn't think about and miss you and Dean and Sam... Kevin."

She flinched at Kevin's name before looking away from him. Dean, however, met his eyes, and she knew the expression that was on his face.

"Kevin's gone," Dean said softly.

"What?"

"Gone for good."

"What happened?"

Aline squeezed her eyes shut, the image of Kevin's dead, eyeless body forever plastered in her brain, and she said sorrowfully, "When he needed me, I wasn't there. That's what."

* * *

They were gonna leave. Everything was good despite the bad feeling in Aline's gut, but they got a call from the sheriff, letting them know about another attack that left behind a gutted deer.

"Well, you wanted weird, agent," the sheriff said as the trio walked up to him. "You tell me what tore up that deer. Nothing that runs in these parts."

That werewolf scent was back as Aline and the Winchesters walked over to the deer and squatted down to look at it closer.

"Fresh blood," Dean stated.

"Yes, it is," the sheriff agreed, and the werewolf scent grew stronger.

That was when she put the pieces together. "Still warm," Aline said quietly to the boys. "That means it died after we got the call."

Fortunately, they put it together as well, and all three of them swung around, Dean pulling a silver knife out of his jeans but he kept it behind his back. The sheriff already had a gun trained on them.

"Couldn't just accept that all was good and move on, could you?" he asked rhetorically. "You have _no idea_ what you've walked into, do you? No matter. You won't be walking out."

The sheriff quickly drew his weapon, but Dean was faster. He threw the silver knife right into the sheriff's chest, and he fell to the ground dead. The three hunters moved to the body, and Dean removed his knife. Sam pulled the chain that was around the dead man's neck and ripped it off.

"Hey. Look at this," he said, holding up the chain. There was a silver bullet on it with a work etched into it.

"I've seen that before," Aline stated, earning a nod from Dean.

"Yeah, that is a favorite accessory of the good reverend and his flock," Dean threw in.

"'Ragnarok'?"

"The end of the world according to Norse mythology, right?" Aline inquired.

Sam nodded. "Yeah, but why is it etched onto a bullet?"

Dean shrugged. "Who cares? We got all the answers we need."

"I don't know. I think we need more."

"Oh, what? Sheriff Andy Taylor here wasn't good enough for you?"

"Enough to kill Garth? Come on, man. Let's do this right."

"All right, fine. Clean this up, grab Garth, lock him up until we figure out what's what. Aline and I are gonna go check out that church."

* * *

The sanctuary in the white church looked pretty in it's own way. Still, Tsumugari was in her one hand, flashlight in the other, ready to be used against anything that could jump out at Aline and Dean from the shadows. The only sound she could hear were the crickets outside, hers and Dean's footsteps in the otherwise empty church, and their breathing.

It didn't take them long to reach Reverend Jim's office door, but it was locked. Without saying a word to each other, Dean took out his lock pick and began picking the lock while Aline watched his back. Once she heard the click, she turned around and followed Dean into the 'good' reverend's office.

After minutes of searching, Dean poked her and held up a book about Norse mythology. They both skimmed through the table of contents until finding a chapter about Ragnarok. Aline turned on the desk lamp and shook the computer mouse to wake up the screen. The monitor showed a picture of Garth, Bess, Joy, and Reverend Jim, making Dean roll his eyes.

"Seriously?" he questioned.

Aline chuckled and did a search for Ragnarok. "Check this out," she stated, motioning for him to come closer. That was when her cell phone rang, and she put it on speaker. "Hey. Did you find the lovebirds?"

 _"No,"_ Sam replied. _"Place is a wreck. No Garth, no Bess."_

"What, they were taken?" Dean inquired. "Well, that's fan-friggin'-tastic."

 _"Tell me you guys got something."_

"Well, this, uh...Ragnarok, end-of-days crap—is a wolf named Fenris, who kills the God Odin before the world ends."

 _"Okay. And that helps us how?"_

"Hold your horses, bug," Aline interrupted. "There are cults that consider Fenris a wolf deity and worship him. They call themselves the maw of Fenris."

 _"A cult of werewolves?"_ Sam chuckled. _"What do they want?"_

"Well, Ragnarok is not just a Bible story to these nutjobs. It's an action plan—human extinction, total and complete werewolf domination."

 _"And...what? This is the—the ground-zero for their movement?"_

Dean shook his head in amazement. "Freakin' Wisconsin, man. Well, time for Reverend Jim to go down."

 _"Yeah. You two need any help?"_

"No, no, no, we got it. You just, uh, you find Garth." The amount of confidence in his voice, made Aline look over at Dean.

 _"All right."_ The call ended, and Dean finally looked at her.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothin'. You just...believe in me _that_ much?" Aline questioned.

He looked at her like what he'd just said to Sam was the most obvious thing in the world. "Of course. I trust you, wolf girl. I'd've thought you'd realized that, especially after all this time."

Aline blushed, but she and Dean startled when they heard a car door shut. Quickly, they shut off the light and split up in the sanctuary. Aline hid behind the pulpit, pulling out Tsumugari and keeping her tail still. Dean hid not too far away from her, in the shadows.

She smelled Reverend Jim before she even heard the church doors open or his footsteps. Her grip tightened on Tsumugari. Her ears twitched toward the sound of the werewolf sniffing the air.

"It's no use, Dean and Aline," he called out, his voice echoing in the empty church. "I can hear your heartbeats. You both must've done this countless times, yet you still get nervous."

Aline glanced over at Dean, who nodded, and they both stepped out of the shadows, guns drawn and Tsumugari held out in front of her.

"Nothing wrong with a little fear," Dean replied. "It's what makes us human."

"Fear is not a purely human instinct. Even monsters know fear. I came to work on my sermon."

"Well," Aline began, not lowering her weapons, "why don't you start by preaching to us about the maw of Fenris? Yeah, that's right. Dean and I know all about you and your pack's little plan."

"I assure you, we are planning nothing."

"No? Well, then, why did we read about it in your good book?" Dean inquired.

The older man sighed. "Because generations ago, that hate and misplaced anger was part of our beliefs. But ever since I took over here, I have eradicated it from our congregation."

"Yeah, well, apparently, some of them didn't get the word—like the good sheriff, who just tried to off me, Aline, and my brother."

There was a confused expression on Reverend Jim's face, and Aline could smell that same confusion coming from him. "Sheriff Pat?"

Both Aline and Dean took a step closer to him in unison. "Let me see your bullet." He pulled Reverend Jim's silver bullet necklace closer, but when he turned it around, there was nothing etched on it. "Where is it?"

"Let me see, Dean," Aline suggested, and he handed it off to her, and she saw it wasn't there. "What the...where is it?"

"Where's what?"

"'Ragnarok.'"

The older man's eyes widened. "What?!"

"It was etched into the sheriff's bullet."

He shook his head. "That's impossible. The maw is dead."

"Yeah, well, tell that to Garth and your daughter, who are missing," Dean stated.

Reverend Jim's eyes widened, his expression changing as something suddenly dawned on him. "No."

* * *

It took twenty minutes to reach the barn. For once, Aline was grateful that no one (except for Sam, Dean, Garth, and Bess) knew she could become a wolf. Her scent was different as a wolf, something no werewolf could easily recognize as hers.

So she shifted, Tsumugari moving to rest on her back and Life Beads resting underneath it.

"Hey," Dean called, catching her attention as he loaded his gun with silver bullets and slipped a silver knife into the pocket of his jeans. "Be careful."

Aline grinned wolfishly. **"I will. Promise. You better be careful, too,"** she replied before slipping into the darkness. She saw Russ outside the house moving toward the hedge, where Dean hung his jacket while her back was turned, but she couldn't focus on that, trying to search for a way in the barn.

And... _Bingo!_

A side door!

She ran through it, catching Joba's attention and (after recovering from the shock of seeing a white wolf) he flew through the hayloft, but Aline effortlessly moved out of the way. Joba moved to slice her with his claws, but she grabbed Tsumugari and stabbed him in the heart. At the same time, a shot rang out, and there was a hole in Joba's head. Aline stood up and ran to stand next to Dean, who was wearing Russ' coat.

Joy turned to them. "Wearing Russ' coat to hide your scent—smart," she stated, but her eyes widened at the sight of Aline in her wolf form.

"Oh, we're _full_ of surprises," Dean replied.

"As am I."

Dean and Joy both dived for their guns while Aline bolted toward the older woman, Tsumugari clenched tightly in her fangs. Joy's gun was aimed directly at Aline. The younger woman growled and stabbed her in the chest. Joy gasped and then fell to the ground, dead.

* * *

Garth, Sam, Dean, and Aline watched Bess comfort her father.

"Be good," Sam said to Garth. "Hear me?"

Garth smiled. "I will. Thanks, Sam," he replied. Sam and he hugged, and Sam coldly glanced at both Dean and Aline as he walked by them through the door.

Aline's shoulders slumped and her azure eyes followed Sam out the door, but she covered it quickly when Garth walked up.

Dean motioned at Bess and Reverend Jim. "How's he doing?" he asked.

"He's taking it pretty hard. Feels like he should have seen the signs earlier."

"Yeah, well, maybe you were right," Aline acquiesced.

"Yeah," Dean threw in, "he seems like a good man...considering."

Garth rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah. And you were right. Everything around here wasn't copacetic. I screwed up again. First Kevin, now this," he replied.

Aline put her arm on his shoulder to comfort him. "Hey. Kevin? That's on me. I'm the one that pulled him into all this. I'm the one that should've been there to protect him."

"You gotta remember to share the blame, Peverell," Dean said. "It's your fault _and_ mine, remember?"

"Well... I guess there's enough of that blame to go around, then."

Both Dean and Aline nodded and headed for the door, but Garth stopped them with a call of their names, and they both turned around in unison. "Yeah?"

"Um..I know this may sound a little crazy, but... Maybe I could come back and hunt with you. I mean, with my werewolf mojo plus Aline's demigod wolf mojo, we'd have an advantage."

The two hunters shared a look before Dean said, "Yeah, look, Garth—"

Garth shook his head. "No. I want to make this right. I never should've left you guys, especially Kevin. Kevin was my friend. Friends don't do that."

The statement made Aline cringe, but she pushed through it and said, "Well, hey, you said it—you know, who cares where happiness comes from? Look, we're all a little weird, we're all a little wacky—some more than others—" she pointedly looked at Dean, who let out a chuckle, "but...if it works, it works."

"Yeah. You got something here. Okay?" Dean continued for her. "Even though they are werewolves. Or Lycanthropes—whatever. Don't let that go. Okay? You'll never forgive yourself. Besides, somebody's got to live to tell this damn story someday, and who better than you? Now shut up and come here." Dean opened his arms for a hug.

The younger man had a surprised look on his face even as he grinned. "Really?" he asked.

"Hurry up before I change my mind." The two men hugged for a few seconds before Aline and Garth hugged.

"Who knows? We may see each other sometime," Aline said cryptically before both she and Dean left out the front door.

* * *

The drive to Sam's car was uncomfortably silent, with Aline sitting on the benchseat and Sam and Dean on either side of her. The silence continued as Sam prepared to get out.

"I'll send you two that postcard," he said, opening the door and getting out.

He almost reached his car before Aline, after sharing a look with Dean, got up the nerve to get out as well.

"Hey," Aline called out, making Sam turn around. "Uh, listen, that night that, uh... You know, we went our—our separate ways—"

"You mean the night you split and Dean went with you?"

She pushed a lock of hair behind her ear and nodded after a few seconds. "Fair enough. I was messed up. Kevin was dead, and I...I don't know what I was. And...and I honestly wanted to go on my own, but Dean wanted to come with me."

"Okay."

"Hell, maybe I still don't. _We_ still don't. But, uh...I know we took a piece of you in the process, and for that..." Her mouth opened uselessly as she struggled to find what she wanted to say, but she heard the driver side door open and close before Dean spoke, and she wasn't sure whether their thoughts were linked or what because he started saying exactly what she was thinking.

"Somebody changed the playbook, man, you know? It's like what—what—what's right is wrong and what's wrong is more wrong, and... we just know that when... When the three of us rode together..."

"We split up the crappiness," Sam finished.

"Yeah. So..." She sighed.

There was an unreadable expression on Sam's face before he said, "Okay."

"Okay."

"But something's broken here."

"I'm...we're not saying that it's not. I...I just think maybe the three of us need to put a couple W's on the board and we get past all this."

Sam shook his head. "I don't think so, Aline. No, I-I wish, but... The three of us don't...see things the same way anymore—our roles in this whole thing. Back in that church, talking me out of boarding up hell? Or—or tricking me into letting Gadreel possess me? I can't trust either of you—not the way I thought I could, not the way I should be able to."

The statement made her cringe. "Okay, look. Whatever happened... The three of us're family, okay?"

Sam stuffed his hands in his pockets. "You say that like it's some sort of cure-all, like it can change the fact that everything that has ever gone wrong between us has been because we're family."

"So, what—we're not family now?" Dean asked.

"I'm saying, you two want to work? Let's work. If you want to be brothers, Dean,... If you want to be friends again, Aline..." He paused both times, letting them fill in the blanks. "Those are my terms."

Dean and Aline stared at him in silence and then, in unison, nodded once. Sam got back into the Impala, and the other two slowly followed.


	5. Series Note

_**I figured I'd (finally) post a list of what different monsters/angels/angel vessels smell like to Aline. I realize I should've done this ages ago, probably when I first mentioned scents (in "Rock and a Hard Place"). Also, I figured I'd add what Aline smells like. And her powers, abilities, and weaknesses.**_

* * *

 _ **Angel Scents**_

 **Cas** – hibiscus

 **Casifer** – white roses & hibiscus

 **Leviathan Cas** – corpses, dried blood, guts, and hibiscus

 **Gabe** – cotton candy, violas

 **Michael** – marigold

 **Apocalypse World Michael** – marigold, blood, holy fire, and gunpowder

 **Lucifer** – white roses _(I blame Endverse, okay? I saw him with a rose and the white suit, and BOOM! He smells like roses)_

 **Gadreel** – dahlias

 **Jack Kline** – beach roses _(I figured that, considering that Jack is Lucifer's son, I'd make his scent be a type of rose)_

 _ **Angel Vessel Scents**_

 **Dean** – whiskey, gunpowder, leather, gladiolus _(Gladiolus is also known as the sword lily, Dean is the Michael Sword. It fits!)_

 **Post-Hell Dean** – still the same, except with sulfur, first degree burns, and blood

 **Post-Purgatory Dean** – same as before, except with blood and guts

 **Sam** – blood, musk, libraries, garden roses

 **Soulless Sam** – blood, second degree burns, garden roses

 **Gadreel!Sam** – more garden roses and dahlias than blood, musk, and libraries

 **Meg!Sam** – same as before but with sulfur and third degree burns

 **Demon Blood Sam** – blood, musk, sulfur, first degree burns

 _ **Demon Scents**_

 _All demons smell like sulfur, blood, and third degree burns with other scents mixed in._

 **Cain** – honey

 **Crowley** – smoke, bourbon, spices

 _ **Werewolf Scents**_

 _Indescribable, appealing (faintly like wet tree bark)_

 _ **Aline's Scent**_

 **Wolf Aline** – ink, sunshine, freshly mowed grass, cherry blossom

 **Dark Aline** – foxfire, jasmine

 **Human Aline** – leather, pomegranate, petrichor, apples

* * *

 ** _Aline's Powers & Abilities_**

 **Demigod Abilities**

 **Invulnerability** – Aline cannot be killed by conventional means.

 **Shapeshifting –** Similar to a skinwalker, she can morph into a white wolf.

 **Super Strength –** She was able to overpower and kill the werewolf Joba while in her wolf form.

 **Celestial Brush** – As the half-human daughter of Ōkami Amaterasu, Aline has access to her brush techniques as she progresses with Amaterasu's story.

 **Wielding Divine Instruments –** Due to being the daughter of Ōkami Amaterasu, Aline has the ability to wield glaives, reflectors, and rosaries used by Amaterasu throughout her journey.

 **Super Senses –** Aline has extremely keen senses that are sharper than those of humans. She can hear footsteps from 100 yards away, and she posseses an enhanced sense of smell.

 **Human Abilities**

 **Expert Hunting Skills –** Trained by Sam and Dean since 2005, Aline possesses excellent hunting abilities.

 **Expert Hand-to-Hand combat –** Aline is adept with martial arts and knife fighting.

 **Expert Marksmanship** – Aline is well-versed with multiple types of firearms and is an expert marksman, she seldom misses her intended target and can efficiently put down anything vulnerable to bullets.

 **Master knife wielder/Knife-thrower –** Aline is highly skilled with knives and knife-throwing.

 **Exorcism** – Over time, Aline has gotten proficient at performing exorcisms on demons.

 ** _Aline's Weaknesses_**

 **Demigod Weaknesses**

 **Archangels** – An archangel is easily capable of killing her.

 **Bamboo Dagger Blessed by a Shintō Priest** – Similar to the Ōkami, she can be killed by being stabbed seven times with this weapon.

 **Silver –** She can be weakened by silver, not killed.

 **Human Weaknesses**

 **Magic –** Aline is susceptible to the influences of magic and witchcraft.


	6. Dreaming of Possibilities (Aline)

_**WARNING(S):** **This chapter contains spoilers for the season 13 finale, "Let the Good Times Roll".**_

This chapter has (literally) been on my mind since I wrote my first season 13 fic, "When Angels Fall" and I saw the clip from that episode. There are no spoilers for this fic trilogy. Just the episode. Honestly, this chapter had been planned from the moment I made the chapter list, but I wasn't sure what to do with it until season 13 happened.

Hope you like it!

* * *

 _At night, whether it was while she slept either on some dingy motel bed or her memory foam mattress back in her room at the bunker, Aline had dreams._

 _Most of the time, they were regular, run of the mill dreams related to her and Dean. AKA chick flick ones where they lived normal lives, complete with some rom-com bull and the two of them getting married (of course, her dreams also gave Sam a girlfriend, looks changing every so often), having a couple of kids and a two-story house with a garage fit for Baby. There were no monsters to worry about (she was fully human. Not that she didn't mind the perks that came with being Amaterasu's half-human daughter), John and Mary were alive, her mom was alive and divorced from her father. Everything was perfect...until she'd wake up and reality hit her like a monster truck at a demolition derby._

 _The other dreams, however, were strange and confusing, but she never remembered them when she woke up, only remembering how she felt during them._

 _Tonight would be no different._

 _She was in the bunker, helping Castiel up off the ground. Dean was there, along with another man she didn't recognize, but her body_ definitely _did. Sam wasn't there, neither was another person._

 _Her nose (it didn't seem like hers, yet it was) caught Sam's fading scent (blood, musk, libraries, and garden roses), beach roses (who that belonged to, she didn't know, but part of her did), and white roses._

 _She also caught the stronger scents of Dean (whiskey, gunpowder, leather, and gladiolus), Cas (hibiscus), and vanilla._

 _The fact that she could smell white roses and vanilla made her freeze and her heart stop._

 _How had Michael and Lucifer get out of the cage? She'd last seen them back in the graveyard years ago, when Sam dragged himself, the two archangels, and Adam down to Hell, to the cage. How had they gotten out?_

 _The stranger leaning against the same wall Kevin died on was where Michael's scent was the strongest, mixed with blood, holy fire, and gunpowder. But this man didn't look like Adam. He didn't even smell like the Michael she remembered from before Sam said "yes."_

 _But something told her that he_ was _Michael. He was what Dean would've become if he, like Sam, had said "yes" instead of a resounding "no." If he'd won against Lucifer._

" _What just happened?" Dean inquired, interrupting Aline's train of thought._

" _I don't know," Cas answered truthfully._

 _Michael grunted as he shifted positions before saying grimly, "The Devil won. That's what happened."_

" _How do we stop him?" Aline asked the archangel. She sounded different, like she'd been fighting some kind of darkness in herself for four years._

" _You don't. After consuming the Nephilim's grace, Lucifer's all juiced up. He's super-charged. He'll kill the boy, your brother. Hell, he could end the whole universe if he put his mind to it. And you thought I was bad. You can't even stop him."_

 _Aline's fists clenched. She knew she felt stronger than she had been before, all powered up. She felt herself reach for something, but Dean grabbed her hand, shaking his head._

" _No," he denied. "No, you beat him. We saw you."_

" _When he was weaker, and I was stronger. Believe me, I'd love to rip my brother apart. But now in this banged up meatsuit...not happening. This is the end of everything."_

 _She looked over at Dean, fist clenched even tighter than before, and she saw a very familiar looking expression on his face._

 _The look that said "Forgive me, but I have to do this". The "there's no other option" expression._

 _She rapidly shook her head with wide eyes, but that look never disappeared until Dean looked Michael's way._

" _No. What if...what if you had your sword?"_

 _The moment he said that, gladiolus began to overpower whiskey, gunpowder, and leather. Out of the corner of her eye, Cas looked at Dean wide-eyed._

" _Dean, no," he begged, but the hunter ignored him and took a step toward the archangel, gladiolus mixing with vanilla. Dean was just far enough away from her to only be touching her fingertips with his own._

" _I am your sword. Your perfect vessel. With me, you'd be stronger than you'd ever been."_

" _Oh, I know what you are."_

" _If we work together, can we beat Lucifer?"_

" _Dean..." Cas called out, and Aline ran toward the older Winchester, giving his hand a squeeze when she was right next to him._

Together or not at all. _That was the promise they'd made to each other two days after Dean got the mark._

 _And she fully intended to keep it even if it killed her._

" _Can we?"_

 _Michael glanced between hunter and demigod before answering, "We'd have a chance."_

" _Dean, you can't."_

" _Lucifer has Sam. He has Jack. Cas, I don't have a choice!" Dean shouted, not even looking Cas's way._

" _We could ask..."_

" _Mom's not answering me, Cas!" Aline interrupted. "I don't agree with this either, but there's no other option!"_

 _Dean looked at Michael, a determined expression on his face. "If we do this, it's a onetime deal. I'm in charge. You're the engine, but I'm behind the wheel. Understand?"_

 _There was something in Michael's eyes, the same something that had been in Rao's eyes before she brought up the Fox Rods._

 _And it left Aline with an uneasy feeling that remained even as she woke up._


	7. Monster Born (I'm Fading More)

**_A/N: Spur of the moment interlude is spur of the moment! I was working on "The Purge" when I decided I wanted to have a chapter told from Amaterasu's POV. I might write a flashback fic with the event I talk about in here. It's been in my head for a while. Anyway, this takes place in the Celestial Plain between "Sharp Teeth" & "The Purge." I tried not to give away too much here. Don't wanna spoil my fun. Hope you like it!_**

* * *

"You know she's calling you, furball."

She looked up from her work, staring him in the eye. "I hear her, Issun," she said through a clenched jaw. It had been twenty-five years since she'd seen the brunette, since her vessel Nicole and her husband died in that fire. The girl in question had been trying to get her attention for the past few days.

 _Why does she look like me, Mom?_

Her mind flashed back to what she'd walked in on ten years before her death, the smell of foxfire and incense, pieces of paper with symbols drawn in red ink surrounding her baby, the familiar symbols in the night sky and on her forehead, the glowing eyes replacing azure for a few seconds...

He hadn't known that she'd seen it, and it stayed that way for the next ten years they were married.

Issun hopped onto the desk, arms crossed over his chest as he sat on top of the pile of papers. "I don't understand why you didn't tell her what she is. Why you don't tell her what she wants to know."

"I would've told her when she was old enough, if my vessel lived that long. I told her my story and showed her your paintings when she was younger." It was true. She had every intention of telling her the moment the first memory was triggered.

"But why don't you answer her? She _needs_ you, Ammy."

"She has her reasons, my little bouncing friend," a male voice answered, catching both of their attentions. His eyes moved to hers. "Though I don't understand them myself."

Issun laughed in an attempt to ease the tension. "Kinda funny that you don't, ya half-baked prophet."

The sun goddess looked down at her work, jaw clenched tightly. "This wasn't supposed to happen," she stated, her head falling into her hands. "I should've known..." She heard footsteps coming around the desk and felt a familiar pair of arms wrap around her body as she trailed off.

"You couldn't have known, ma chérie."

"As much as I hate to agree with fruity here, he's right. We didn't know about _her_ until...well, you know. Even though you're the sun goddess, ya can't know everything."

She looked up from her hands and grabbed a paper from the other pile. Names were on the list, and she recognized all of them. There was no doubt that both of her companions were also looking at that paper, reading each of the names. Each of the names were written in kanji. Their eyes stopped on one in particular.

"His actions impacted this?"

She nodded. "Like I said, this wasn't supposed to happen. I can't figure out how to explain it to her, which is why I can't answer her prayers right now."

"Just tell her what you saw. I'm sure she'll understand."

Fingers ran through snow white hair, and she looked back down at the list, sunrise orange eyes locked Aline's name. As expected, her own name was right across from Aline's. What was not expected was the second name.

The name was written in crimson, unlike the others, making it stick out like a sore thumb.

 _At least, it's not_ him, her brain said, calming her down somewhat. She hated thinking about what she'd have to do if _his_ name was there, but _he_ wasn't coming back. She'd made sure of that.

* * *

 _ **Like I said up there, I might write about the event Amaterasu/Nicole walked into, but that won't come until later. I gotta keep a few secrets. I won't say when it's coming (because it's been something I've been thinking about writing since I started this thing).**_


	8. The Purge

**A/N: *Snake voice* Kept you waiting, huh? Sorry this took so long! I've been watching ShadyPenguinn's streams, playing Okami HD (I'm close to 100% guys! I just have one stray bead left to get before I enter the point of no return), watching Attack on Titan & Tokyo Ghoul: re. I'll try not to take as long with the next chapter (it's an in-game one. The next two are in-game chapters, just a heads-up). Anyway, hope you enjoy! (Side note: I almost cried while writing the ending.)  
**

 ** _WARNING(S):_ Drug use (accidental/unknowing)**

* * *

It had been a few days since they'd found Garth again, and there had been zero cases and no jumping back into Amaterasu's memories.

Speaking of, Aline had tried to get a hold of her mom just to try to get answers as to _why does Rao look like me?_

And there had been nothing but radio silence. She'd been tempted to try to reach out to someone else up there, but, given the fact that the only ones that would be able to hear her would be Metatron and the other angels, she knew that she wouldn't get an answer that way.

Now, she was leaning against the counter, coffee mug clenched tightly in her hands. She'd barely gotten any sleep the night before, dreams plagued by a red moon,shadowy tails, and bright red eyes. From the looks of it, Dean didn't sleep much either. That or he didn't sleep period. He was sitting at the table in front of his laptop with his head in his right hand,eyes locked on the screen.

Aline grabbed Dean's mug from the cabinet, poured him some coffee, and placed it next to his laptop as she sat down next to him. The moment he picked up his mug and drank some coffee, Sam walked in.

"Hey," he greeted.

"Hey." Dean's voice was raspy, and he barely looked up from the computer while Aline nodded her head in greeting.

"You two go to bed last night?"

At that moment, it was _really_ hard to believe that, days ago, they'd all laughed about Sam saying "stacked" and "melons". She knew this was the way things had to be until Sam could trust her and Dean again, but it still hurt her that the guy she called her friend (the Issun to her Amaterasu) was only treating her like a co-worker. She set her mug on the table and tightly grasped her pajama pants in her hands,swallowing hard as she answered, "Nah. Watched the Purple Wedding, then came out here and found him."

Dean cleared his throat. "What? Uh, no. No, 'Rudy' was on. 'Unforgiven,' and then I was too jacked to sleep, so...research."

Sam rummaged around the kitchen getting breakfast. "Gadreel?"

"And Metatron and the mark of Cain and whatever Aline's mark is and..." Dean looked up and realized Sam wasn't really paying attention. "Crickets for the first two, but I found out that Aline's mark literally is 'darkness'." He looked over at her, but she looked down at the floor. "Aline also found us a case."

"Oh, yeah?"

Aline nodded. "Yeah. Strange death in Stillwater, Minnesota. A competitive eater died after a hot dog-eating contest."

"So, what? Death by tube steak?"

"If only. He got attacked in his car, but, uh, get this—he shrunk from 300 pounds to 90."

"Witchcraft?"

"Or a heavy-duty laxative. You game?" Dean inquired.

"Yeah."

"Good. Looks like it's a whore's bath for me. I'll be ready in five." Dean got up to leave while Aline quickly finished the rest of her coffee, getting up to leave as well before Sam stopped them both in the doorway.

"You sure you two are okay?"

Aline shrugged nonchalantly. "Sure. Why wouldn't we be?"

"'Cause—I don't know you... This isn't about what I said the other day, is it?"

Dean and Aline shared a quick look before Dean answered for the both of them. "Oh, about that we're not supposed to be brothers? And that you and Aline aren't supposed to be friends? No, don't flatter yourself. We don't break that easy."

"Oh,good, 'cause I was just being honest."

Aline rolled her eyes once she was far enough away from Sam. "Oh, , we got that loud and clear."

Once she and Dean reached their rooms (which were directly next to each other), Dean looked over at her. "You should've told him, you know. About what you saw in your dreams."

Her shoulders slumped, knowing that Sam was far enough away to not see how she was really dealing with the practically cold shoulder. "He wouldn't care. We're...we're not even friends anymore. You heard him. So, please drop it."

"Ally..."

Her fingers white-knuckled the door, and she clenched her jaw. "Dee, please." With that, she yanked open her door and started packing. Her vision became blurry with tears, but she quickly wiped them away and grabbed clothes to put on after her own shower, along with her phone and speaker, needing something to distract her from her own head while she showered.

It was Sam's decision, his terms that both she and Dean accepted. Even though he didn't trust them anymore, didn't trust her anymore.

 _And why should he trust you?_ a treacherous voice questioned. _You tried to get him to stop the trials, got him to say yes to that dickbag angel, all to save him. And for what? The douche killed Kevin while wearing Sam and who knows how many others. It's all on you because you couldn't let one man die._

Aline clenched her jaw, and she threw her shirt at the mirror in the corner of her room. She felt like throwing something else, anything, but she stopped short when she saw her reflection in the mirror.

Her eyes were crimson for a brief second before switching back to blue, brief enough for her to catch it with wide shocked eyes.

* * *

FBI was the disguise of the day, which meant suits and fake badges. They'd flashed the badges to the lady at the front desk and got the attention of the sheriff, Donna Hanscum. She'd given them most of the information they already knew, and were waiting for the coroner's report.

Now,the blonde walked over with two copies and handed one to Sam. "Thanks for your patience, agents. Coroner's report finally came in," Hanscum stated.

"All right, thank you. All right, let's see. Did Wayne McNut really weigh 300 pounds just moments before time of death?" Sam inquired.

"316 to be exact."

"And the official cause of death?" Aline asked.

"Cardiac arrest. But between you and me, that's just a guess. The vic suffered massive organ damage." She turned around and handed the other report to a girl at the desk. "Here you go, Jenny. Ruptured spleen,pierced liver, collapsed lung. Looked like everything was just sucked right out of him." She poured herself a cup of coffee.

"Like he'd been hoovered?"

"Yeah. Yeah, you know, I gotta be honest, fellas—hm?" Hanscum took a powdered donut and offered them one. Both Dean and Aline gladly walked over and grabbed one for themselves. "We're stumped. This type of thing just doesn't happen in Stillwater." The sheriff took a big bite of her powdered donut, and it covered her mouth and black tie with white powdered sugar.

Sam looked at the report. "Now, did Wayne have any enemies?"

"Hmm. More like an unfriendly rivalry."

Dean and Aline took huge bites out of their donuts, and white powder covered their lips and face.

"A guy named 'Slim Jim' Morgan. Like Wayne, he was pretty well-known in the competitive-eatin' circuit."

Sam looked up from the report and noticed both Dean's and Aline's faces. He tried to subtly motion for them to wipe their face. Aline wiped her face off with her hand, and Dean wiped the side of his mouth, taking off exactly none of the powdered sugar which earned a grin from Aline. Sam, however, tried to stay focused on the sheriff.

"Competitive-eating circuit? Is that a big thing out here?"

"Oh, yeah. You betcha. Folks take it real seriously—train for months. Eat all sorts of wackadoo stuff, you know, like, uh...Baked beans, buff wings, butter."

Aline almost choked on air in surprise. "Butter?"

"Yeah. Sometimes deep-fried."

Dean took another huge bit and spread more powder everywhere. "Hm."

"This year alone, Wayne won the Butter Bowl, the Wing Ding, and Shrimptasia. Anyhoo, point being, Wayne McNut was the only one Slim Jim couldn't beat in the whole Great Lakes region."

"So is he a suspect?"

"We checked him out, but Slim Jim was in the Hot Doggery at the time of Wayne's death, and we got 15 witnesses to prove it."

"Really?"

"Yah."

Dean, the sheriff, and Aline exchanged looks and then took simultaneous bites of their donuts and chewed contentedly.

* * *

"Slim Jim" Morgan stuffed a handful of lettuce in his mouth from the gigantic bowl in front of him. "Training," he explained with his mouth full. "When I gear up for a competition, I eat lettuce—stretches the stomach."

Aline cringed, grossed out. It was one thing when Dean talked with his mouth full (she could deal with that no problem), but it was another thing watching someone else do it.

"Yet another reason to stay away from salads," Dean said, clearly also grossed out.

"How well did you know Wayne McNut?" Sam questioned.

"Well, well enough to know he was a weasel and a cheat. I hate to say it, but, uh, karma's a bitch."

Dean looked away from the man and at the shelf next to him. "This is interesting."

Aline glanced at the shelf as well, noticing it was full of spell jars and funny shaped boxes.

"Mala's good-luck charms."

She looked back at him. "And Mala is...?"

"My old lady."

"Is your old lady superstitious?"

"Yah. She's Romanichal."

"Romanichal?"

"Gypsy," Sam responded.

"But don't call her that. She says it's reductive. But I think it's a compliment. I mean, gypsies are all the rage on TV—'My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding,' 'Gypsy Sisters'... 'Keeping up with the Kardashians.'"

"Um." Sam cleared his throat. "You mind if I use your bathroom?"

"Yeah, go ahead. But use the one upstairs at the back. Mala's taking a shower in ours."

"Right." And Sam left, leaving Dean and Aline alone with Slim Jim.

The two hunters glanced at each other briefly before Dean asked, "Did you really lose the 'Wiener Winner' by one dog?"

"Yah."

* * *

Back at the motel, Aline picked up pieces of the hex bag on the was human hair and marbles and other weird things. Dean was sitting across from her, and Sam was sitting on the bed, laptop in front of him.

"All right, so, we got what appears to be Wayne McNut's hair and...a bag full of weird," Aline said, scrunching her nose.

"In Romanichal culture, the pouch is called a putsi bag. It's used for hexes," Sam stated, reading from his laptop.

"Okay, so, what? Mala's putting hexes on hubby's competition?" Dean guessed, and Sam shrugged. "I mean, what do we got ourselves? A 'thinner' sitch here?"

"Slim Jim might not even know."

"Hm."

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. The trio exchanged looks, and Dean got up and drew his gun. He looked through the peephole and shrugged. He opened the door, and it was Mala. She smiled.

"Hi," Dean greeted.

"I believe you have something of mine," she stated.

* * *

Long story short, Mala's putsi bag was a dead end, made to bless Wayne instead of curse. Now they were back to square one with another dead body. This time, the crime scene was the gym. Dean looked at the body.

"Any idea what the vic weighed beforehand?" Sam asked the officer.

"165."

"So...180. Known fact—all women lie about their weight and age."

Aline cocked a brow. "You told that waitress the other day you were 29," she pointed out. She wasn't going to deny what he'd said, but she had to point out that he'd done the exact same thing.

"Mm-hmm."

"Need anything else, agents?" the officer inquired.

"Yeah, is Sheriff Hanscum around?"

"Sorry. She's out for the rest of the week. Hell of a time to take a vacation, right?" The officer walked away, leaving the Winchesters and Aline alone with the body.

"Okay, so, we have two victims, with seemingly nothing in common except, uh—"

"A love for eclairs. Check this out."

The trio bent down to look at the body, and Dean pulled up her shirt a little to reveal a large, circular red mark.

"What is that? A birthmark?" Aline wondered.

"Huh. So the weight had to come off somehow, right? What if it's a suction mark?"

"A suction mark? Okay. Uh, changeling?"

"Yeah, but changelings only take over kids. Neither of the vics had any."

"And we don't know if Wayne McNut had a suction mark."

"Unless we missed it."

Dean's eyes moved past both Aline's and Sam's shoulders. "Yeah. Well, we should, uh, split up. One of us should hit the morgue. The other two should stay here and question the staff."

Aline looked over her shoulder and saw that Dean was staring at a girl talking to an officer. "I'll stay." The girl looked to be Dean's type, making Aline's ears fall slightly.

"Me too," Sam volunteered, also noticing the girl.

Aline stiffened. She and Sam hadn't been alone together since Taka Pass,and that was inside Amaterasu's memories.

"Ain't gonna happen." Dean was adamant about it, clearly noticing Aline's reaction to being alone with Sam.

"Why?"

"Because you're weird around girls. Except for Aline, of course."

"What does that mean, weird?"

"You're awkward. You know, weird—Sam Weird," Aline supplied. "Your middle name might as well be 'Weird'. Sorry. Just...being honest." She and Dean then walked away. "Thanks for that, Dean."

Dean smiled warmly at her, making her heart speed up. "No problem,sweetheart."

* * *

Suffice to say, the same suction mark that was on the dead girl's body was also on the back of the gym girl's back and the back of Wayne's neck just below his hairline. It turned out gym girl took a couple of "me" days at Canyon Valley Spa.

Which was why they were there, being interviewed by the two people from the promo video, Larry and his wife Maritza.

"We were really, really moved by the online testimonials," Sam stated.

"Oh, yeah. That was some powerful stuff," Dean threw in.

"And you three are certified personal trainers?" Maritza inquired.

"Yeah. Yeah, me and him are personal training brothers. Kind of like Hans and Franz, but, uh, less German. And she's like Adrianne León."

"And you're certified in..." Larry questioned.

"Makin' people sweat! Yeah. Kickin' ass and takin' names!" Dean slammed his hand on the table, earning a barely held back chuckle from Aline. "That's how we do!"

"Uh...Uh, to clarify, uh, what my boyfriend's trying to say is, the three of us have a passion for fitness and helping people," Aline clarified,sort of stumbling over even _calling_ Dean her boyfriend though it was just for undercover purposes.

Dean, of course, grinned at her, taking her hand in his. Her cheeks heated up at the contact, but she deflated somewhat when that treacherous part of her pointed out that he was just doing it for the act.

"Oh, us too. In fact, that's how we first met," Maritza stated.

"I was Maritza's first client back in Peru. I was on a student visa—homesick, stressed, eating my troubles away."

"Oh, he was the size of a casa."

"Oh, it's true! I was one empanada away from a heart attack. But then this...gorgeous godsend made me the lean, mean, fighting machine I am today." Larry went crazy with some kungfu fighting techniques.

"Ho! Oh..."

"But I digress. Now, the good news is, we are hiring. The bad news is,there's only one trainer position available." He looked at Dean and Aline. "How do you two feel about working in another department?"

"Huh?"

* * *

Lunchroom. She and Dean were working in the lunch room. Which meant hairnets, aprons, polo shirts, and serving healthy food. It was honestly a job she didn't want to do, even if it was for a case. And the healthy food? Looked about as gross at it smelled. There was also something else she could smell in the orange pudding that made her hair stand on end.

Silver lining? She'd also get to see Dean in a hairnet.

And, the moment she did, her heart skipped a few beats. Despite the fact that he didn't look too happy about it, Dean made it work.

Still, her nose scrunched up, desperately wanting to put a clothespin to block the smell.

"What? Does it smell bad?" he asked her, whispering in her ear.

She motioned toward the pudding that was in the back. "That stuff is. I don't know what's with it, but it smells...wrong."

Before he could say anything else, Sam walked up from the hallway dressed in a tank-top and workout shorts. Both Dean and Aline smirked at the sight, chuckling.

"Nice shorts," Dean snarked.

"Nice hairnets," Sam quickly shot back.

"Yeah, why do Aline and I got to be the lunch ladies?"

"Since when have you two ever complained about being around food?"

"Okay, this is not food."

That was when Alonso called out, "Hey, new guys. Quit flirtin' with the trainer and keep scoopin', huh?"

Aline glared at Alonso while Sam checked his watch.

"It's all right. My, uh...Ashtanga yoga class starts in five minutes."

That made her whirl around to face the younger Winchester. "How the hell do you know anything about yoga?"

"Dean's not the only one who's ever dated someone bendy." And he left, just as a man walked up to the counter.

"Hey, you have any oatmeal?"

Dean chuckled. "Yeah, I wish. No, but we have, uh, something that's tofu over there. I—what is that?"

Aline looked down at it. "It's a pancake. It's tofu."

* * *

Aline and Dean were in the kitchen, leaning against the counter while Dean was typing on his phone and Alonso was buttering some kale on a tray. Aline leaned her head back, just about ready to pinch her nose shut when a towel hit her arm and she jerked upright.

"Flojos. You got time to lean, you got time to clean, huh?" Alonso stated.

Dean looked about as annoyed as she felt while they both started to wipe the counters. "I'm starving. What do we get to eat?"

"Same as the clients."

Aline stopped cleaning, and her jaw dropped, the phrase _You've got to be kidding me_ playing through her head on repeat. "They expect us to eat this rabbit food?"

"It's not rabbit food. It's super food."

The two hunters shared a glance. "I'm not eating it," they both muttered.

Alonso sighed and set a bowl of the orange-colored pudding in between Dean and Aline with a bunch of empty bowls, not even noticing Aline's cringe. "At Canyon Valley, we're supposed to lead by example."

"This is leading by example?" Dean asked.

"It's not for us, stupido. It's for the clients. They're allowed to have pudding on their spa day. It's like a—a last hurrah before the real work starts. Get to work." Then he walked off.

Aline sighed, and she and Dean started to fill the bowls with filling a couple bowls, Dean looked around to make sure no one was watching and took a small mouthful of the pudding.

"What are you doing?" Aline whisper-shouted.

 _"We_ are gonna try some pudding."

"But it smells...wrong. My danger sensors are literally gonna explode just at the smell of this.I don't know what it is, but..."

"All right. Then I'll try it. Maybe...maybe we can find a way to sneak you a Reese's or something, okay?" With that, he slipped a bowl of pudding into his apron.

"You're not eating that without me, okay? I-I need to be there when you eat it." She wasn't sure what it wasn't sure what it was about the pudding that scared her, but she knew she had to be there when Dean ate it. It smelled like regular pudding, except it also smelled _dangerous_ and _wrong_ and it made her heart stop at the thought of Dean eating it alone even if he had his phone on him. It also made her anxious.

"Okay. You'll be there with me when I eat it. I promise."

That made her calm down slightly. Only slightly.

* * *

They were hiding away in some small pantry. As he'd promised, Dean told her that he was gonna eat his contraband pudding in the pantry before leaving, and Aline had followed him seconds later, almost running to the pantry. Fortunately, he hadn't opened the bowl before she'd come in, making her a bit more relaxed.

They both sat down next to a bag of sweet potatoes, Dean with a spoon in his hand and Aline with her phone. Dean glanced at her phone.

"That bad, huh?"

She gave him a look. "Dude, I told you my danger sensors were going off. I mean, it smells like regular salted caramel pudding, but there's something else that's makin' my hair stand on end. Maybe we should just wait to get burgers or something."

Dean put his hand on her shoulder. "I trust you, okay? I'll go put this back, and we can just forget this ever happened."

She shook her head rapidly. "No way. Alonso will yell at you, and we'll lose whatever headway we made on this place if it has anything to do with what happened to Wayne and Carol. I just...we ran into one dead end, and how would we..."

"Hey, hey, look at me." Once she was (she didn't even realize that she'd looked away from him), Dean continued, "How about this. I eat it,and you got Sam on speed dial. If something happens, you call him,okay? If nothing happens, I'll give you a bite. Sound like a plan?"

She shook her head again and held her hand out for the bowl. "I'll...I'll eat it. I'd rather not have you eat something that's got my senses on high alert. Something happens, I'll still call Sam. You take the phone if I can't talk anymore, okay?"

"And you think I wanna put you in that type of danger either?"

Instead of saying another word, she grabbed the bowl out of his hand along with the spoon and opened the bowl. The smell of salted caramel along with something else hit her like a truck, making her brain scream at her to throw it at the wall or something else. Forcing herself to ignore it, she shoved the spoon into the bowl and, after scooping some up, forced it into her mouth. As she'd smelled, it was salted caramel (her ice cream flavor of choice on any given day, but this one made her skin crawl), but the other thing she'd smelled wasn't there. It made her think that, for the first time, her danger meter was wrong, and she finished the pudding.

Still, she counted to ten before attempting to stand up, Dean doing the same as he watched her warily. Suddenly, she felt dizzy, her body swaying sideways before everything went black. The last sound she heard was Dean calling her name.

* * *

Aline woke up in Dean's arms, her phone in her hand. Dean was on the phone talking to Sam, and she called out, "Dean..." Her voice was slurred, like she was drunk. "L...lemme talk to Sammy."

He looked down at her before handing her the phone.

"Sammy."

 _" _Aline?What's wrong with you?"__ Sam asked.

"I need your help."

 _" _Where are you two? Aline?!"__

She squinted at the bag next to her, reading the label. "Sweet potatoes! Sw..." Everything went black again, and Dean's phone dropped to the floor.

[ Dean quickly picked up the phone again. "We're in the pantry, Sam. One of the hallways in the back. Get here now!"

 _" _I'm on my way. What happened?"__

"I'll explain when you get here. Just hurry!" And he hung up the phone. He was honestly terrified when she turned pale before falling. He was glad that she'd insisted on being there, but his fear increased as she slipped in and out of consciousness.

It seemed like minutes passed before he heard Sam yelling, "Dean? Aline? Dean! Aline! Dean? Dean!"

"In here, Sammy!" he yelled back, and the door slammed open, Sam bursting in to see his brother and friend sitting on the floor. "What took you so long?" ]

She woke up to Dean slapping her shoulders. "Wake up. Sammy's here."

"What the hell happened?"

Aline groaned. "I was drugged, that's what happened." She still felt loopy.

"Dru—what?"

"Pudding," Dean answered. "It was supposed to be for the clients, but I couldn't resist. Aline could tell something was wrong, and she insisted on being here when I ate it but..."

"...but I ate it instead."

Sam picked up the bowl and smelled it. "What, salted caramel?"

"Best of both worlds—salty and sweet."

"Right. Uh...All right, you stay here."

Aline shook her head. "No, no, 'm gonna come with you."

However, Dean stopped her before she could even start. "No way. You're staying here, sweetheart. You're all hopped up on some kinda drug."

She puffed out her cheeks but nodded anyway. "Every party needs a pooper that's why they invited you," she mumbled under her breath while Sam left.

* * *

"What kind of supplements?" Aline inquired. She was sitting up, leaning against the sweet potato bag. And she had a monster headache. Dean was sitting next to her to help support her in case she fell over again.

Sam handed her an energy drink which she opened and drank. "Here. Hey. To boost metabolism, per Larry and Maritza." He handed Dean the supplement bottle.

"These aren't 'supplements', they're roofies," Dean stated, looking at the bottle.

Aline stiffened. _That_ was what she'd smelled in the pudding, and her jaw clenched in anger.

"What? How do you know what roofies look like?"

Aline looked up at him. "How do you _not_ know? You think I want to end up in a hotel bathtub with my kidney carved out? In Chechnya? And I smelled that thing!" She groaned. "Find anything out in the yoga?"

"Yeah. Yeah. 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers.' Every single person in class had one of those freaky-ass suction marks."

"What the hell's goin' on here?"

* * *

"Cupping"was the process Canyon Valley used to get rid of excess fat. That was what Hanscum called it, and the process left behind the same suction marks that were on Wayne McNut and the girl at the gym.

And the one in charge of said process?

Maritza.

Now, Dean and Aline were in the kitchen, Dean with his gun drawn and Aline with Tsumugari held tightly in her hand, waiting for the Peruvian woman to show up.

Sure enough, she did, opening the fridge and taking out container after container of human fat and dumping them in the trash. In unison, Aline and Dean slowly and silently walked up to her before Dean cocked his gun. Maritza startled and turned around, eyes wide at the sight of the two hunters. She didn't look too surprised about the gun, moreso Aline's glaive.

"Okay," Aline began, "I'm no health nut, but that is just wrong."

Seconds later, Maritza was tied to a chair.

"All right, talk."

"This isn't what you think. I'm not a killer," Maritza explained.

"Well, then, what are you?"

"I'm a Pishtaco."

Dean and Aline shared a confused look before looking back at her, Aline's head tilted to the side. "A fish taco?"

"A Pishtaco. It means 'Peruvian fat sucker'."

Aline clutched Tsumugari tighter. "Never heard of it. So, what, you're like vamps with a sweet tooth for cellulite?"

"Vampires kill. We're just...Parasites."

"Oh, well, in that case—" Aline leaned forward, baring her fangs and flashing Tsumugari threateningly.

Martiza's eyes moved to the glaive before looking back at Aline. "Look, I would never hurt anybody! Okay, this—this is why Larry and I started Canyon Valley. We could help people lose weight, and I could feed. It was a win-win."

"Yeah, except for the two you dysoned to death."

"That wasn't me."

"Well, then who was it?"

"Alonso."

Dean and Aline glanced at each other for a second. "The dude from the cafeteria?"

"He's my brother."

* * *

Long story short, Alonso killed Larry, and Aline & Dean killed Alonso. The coroner's gurney rolled by, and Sam, Dean, Aline, Sheriff Donna, and an officer stood in the entryway.

"We'll let you know if we need any other information," the officer stated. "Thanks for everything. Appreciate it."

The Winchesters and Aline walked away, but Sam noticed Maritza and went off to talk to her, probably to console her about her loss. Dean and Aline shared a look, something they'd both noticed had become more and more common ever since Dean got the mark and Aline let him see hers, and they both walked over to Sam and Maritza. There was only one thing left to do, and they both knew it.

"Can we steal you a sec?" Dean asked, and the trio walked out in the hallway. "Once this place clears out, we're gonna make this a family affair." He nodded in Maritza's direction.

"Wait. We're not gonna kill Maritza," Sam stated.

"She's a __monster,__ Sam," Aline pointed out.

"Yeah, who saved our asses."

"You said that you wanted to keep things strictly business. Well, last I checked, we were in the business of killing monsters."

"I wanted to keep things strictly business between the three of us. But I still have a heart. What if I had crossed paths with a hunter back when I was possessed by Gadreel? I could've ended up dead, too. Would I have deserved that? Would I have deserved to die?"

Aline clenched her jaw, seeing that the argument was a losing battle.

"So, one-way ticket to Peru?"

* * *

They were back at the Bunker. Dean was sitting in the kitchen, drinking scotch. Aline was next to him with a bottle of root beer when Sam appeared in the doorway.

"I'm hitting it," Sam said.

"Yeah. Hey."

"Yeah?"

"About what you said the other day."

Sam had an "I knew it" expression on his face. "I thought it didn't bother you two."

Aline tightly clutched the root beer bottle, not even looking at Sam as she spoke, her voice soft. "You know, Sam, we saved your hide back there. And we saved your hide at that church... And the hospital. I...me and Dean may not think things all the way through. Okay? But..." She couldn't even finish speaking.

"But what Aline and I do, we do because it's the right thing. We'd do it again," Dean picked up.

"And that...is the problem. You two may think you're my saviors, the heroes. You both swoop in, and even when you mess up, you think what you're doing is worth it because you've convinced yourselves you're doing more good than bad... But you're not."

Aline looked back up at him, heart shattering and azure eyes blank.

"I mean, Kevin's dead, Crowley's in the wind. We're no closer to beating this angel thing. Please tell me, what is the upside to me being alive?"

"You kidding me? The three of us—fighting the good fight together."

Sam sighed in frustration and almost left before coming back into the kitchen and sitting across from Dean and Aline. "Okay. Just once, be honest with me. Both of you. You two didn't save me for me. You both did it for yourselves."

Aline felt confused as she stared at Sam. "What are you __talking__ about?"

"I was ready to die. I was ready. I should have died, but you two... You both didn't want to be alone, and that's what this all boils down to. Not some bull about me being the Issun to your Amaterasu, Aline. Neither of you can stand the thought of being alone."

She drew back and stood up, unaware of the fact that Dean was doing the exact same thing. "All right."

"I'll give you guys this much. You both are certainly willing to do the sacrificing as long as you're not the one being hurt."

"All right, you wanna be honest?" Aline clenched her jaw. "If the situation were reversed and me and Dean were the ones dying, you'd do the same thing."

"No, Aline. I wouldn't." Sam spoke very softly, but it echoed loudly in Aline's head and bounced around as he looked up and met her eyes. "Same circumstances...I wouldn't. I'm gonna get to bed." He left, and Aline threw her empty bottle of root beer, and it smashed on the floor.


	9. AN:

I keep thinking about doing a complete reboot of my blog. Maybe do a little clean up or something, I'm not sure yet.

And...a few other things that I'm _**really** _reluctant to do because I don't wanna do this right in the middle of everything. Of course, I'd change a whole lot of this blog, drop a few things, redo that, the whole shebang.

I was almost tempted to delete all three of my blogs and rebuild from the ground up...

...but I _**can't bring myself to do that.**_

I'm getting all teary eyed just thinking of what I'm gonna do. And it's nothing TOO drastic, I swear! It won't mean I'm going away or anything. Just...cleaning stuff up. It's something I feel like I should've done a while ago, but...

...

 _ **I'm putting my all of my stories and characters (with the exception of my Fire Emblem avatars) up for adoption. And deleting all of my writing accounts.**_

Well, I can't exactly delete my writing blog without deleting this blog (Thanks for that, Tumblr. REALLY helps me out with what I wanna do here).

The stories that I have up for adoption are:

The Sun Rise Trilogy (Supernatural/Okami); drabbles included

\- Kibou to Zetsubou (Supernatural/Danganronpa)

\- The Greatest Trick (Supernatural/The Usual Suspects fusion)

\- The Black Gym Bag series (Supernatural/Saw)

\- Katara's Memoirs (ATLA)

\- Voldemort's Ghosts (Harry Potter)

\- Yellow Devil (Power Rangers: Dino Thunder)

If you adopt these fics, feel free to make them your own & take out Aline if you wish to. I didn't include any fics that I was planning on eventually posting because I'm keeping those to myself and deleting them.

My OCs that are up for adoption are:

\- Aline Peverell (Supernatural; former half-demon turned angel by Alternate Michael. Current face claim is Kate McGrath & voice claim is Laura Bailey. With her, you also get all the main series stories I wrote with her. Those being _DeanGirl2Y5′s Seasons of Supernatural._ )

\- Sato Emi (Danganronpa; the Ultimate Cover Singer. Current real life face claim is Katherine McNamara. Anime FC is Luculia Marlborough from Violet Evergarden. Voice claims are Erica Lindbeck for her English voice & Sora Amamiya for her Japanese voice.)

\- Celica Elwyn (South Park; based on my avatar from Fractured Butt Whole. Real life FC is Maisie Williams, and her VC is Danielle Judovits.)

\- Sonia Babiole (Undertale; half-human half-cat monster that lives with Sans & Papyrus in Snowdin. Real life FC is Felicity Jones, and her VC is Cherami Leigh) & all her incarnations (Message me & I'll send you the link to a post I made about it on my multimuse RP account.)

\- Seras Victoria Ride (WWE; Reference is Maryse)

\- Hinata (WWE; Reference is Christy Hemme)

\- Draco Ride (WWE; Reference is The Miz)

\- Azrael Victoria (WWE; Reference is Brie Bella. You also get _Azrael's Road to WrestleMania 27_. I'll give you the first chapter of the rewrite.)

\- Elena Fay (WWE; Reference is Summer Rae/Kelly Kelly)

\- Nikita David (WWE; Reference is Eve with red hair)

\- Amy K (WWE; Reference is Maria Kanellis)

\- Alanna Lovato/Lissa Harkness (WWE & TNA; Reference is AJ Lee/Nikki Bella)

I will say this: the last fic I will post is the Hope Arc for the "i am the mastermind (underline mastermind)" series called "i've been broke (i'll rise again)" before I delete the rest of my stories off my computer and flash drives.

 _ **The last day I will be accepting adoption requests will be May 31, 2019.**_ After that, any stories & characters that **_have not_** been adopted will be permanently deleted and my fanfiction accounts (Wattpad, AO3, Quotev, & Fanfiction) will be gone. The only accounts I _**won't**_ be deleting are oldfashioncdvillain (my writing blog) & my deviantART account. My writing blog will be archived, along with my multimuse RP account.

Message me if you wish to adopt any of these stories & characters.

(honestly, this was something I thought about after I stopped watching wrestling a few years ago, but I didn't want to let go of Azrael until I finished the _Road to WrestleMania_ rewrite. But I'm doing it now!...

...and I don't really want to. But it's something I _should_ do.)


End file.
